More Price Increases! |
As reported in JobbersWorld on January
15, 2010, Shell was the first to announce a
price increase for finished lubricants in
2010. The company said its prices will
increase by up to 8% effective February 22,
2010. According to marketers, for most of Shell's
lubricants, this increase equates to $0.36 to
$0.38 a gallon on bulk, and $0.44 to $.48 a
gallon on packaged lubricant, depending on
types.
As expected, the price increase announcements
didn't stop here. Others followed and most
attributed the
increases to the higher cost of raw materials
(both additives and base oils).
Chevron - On January 19, 2010, Chevron
advised
it lubricant marketers it will increase its
prices on all lubricating oils, gear lubes
and greases by an average of 6 to 10%. The
increase is effective March 1, 2010 and said
to be driven by the recent rise in the
cost of raw materials.
BP/Castrol - Castrol advised its
marketers on January 21, 2010 it will
increase the price on all passenger car,
commercial, and industrial lubricants by up
to 8%, effective March 8, 2010.
Now for the independent lubricant
manufacturers
Advanced Lubrication Specialties (ALS)
- Effective February 15, 2010, ALS announced
it will increase lubricant prices by $0.38
a gallon.
Cam2 - Cam2 announced an increase of
$0.38 a gallon on bulk and $0.45 a gallon on
packaged lubricant effective February 8th.
Chemlube - Chemlube International
announced an
across the board increase of $0.38 a gallon
for its lubricants. This increase is
effective February 8, 2010.
Smitty's - On January 21, 2010,
Smitty's announced a price increase on Super
S, Sureguard, TriStar and all other private
label brands. Marketers say this increase
means $0.40 a gallon more for bulk effective
on orders placed after February 8, 2010.
Although packaged lubricants will increase by
the same amount, marketers are told this
increase goes into effect on February 22.
Grease will increase by $0.05 a pound, also
effective February 22. As with most other
price increase announcements, Smitty's says
its increase is due to the higher cost of raw
materials.
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Maxum Petroleum Selects Zytax for Excise Motor Fuel Tax Compliance and Determination |
Zytax, a wholly owned subsidiary of
FuelQuest, Inc. and supplier of software
solutions for indirect tax determination and
compliance, announced today that Maxum
Petroleum Inc., a national energy marketer
and distributor, has entered into a five-year
agreement with Zytax. Maxum, the fastest
growing private company in America according
to Inc. 500, will deploy the Zytax solution
to automate tax compliance and determination,
reduce filing complexity, and manage
transactions and data. The Zytax solution
will support a standard tax and determination
process for the $4.9 billion organization.
"Our team recognizes the benefits of
automating our tax compliance and
determination," said Gerry Molina, CIO of
Maxum. "We hope to realize increased
efficiencies which will ultimately save our
organization time and money. Reallocating
these resources will provide our team the
opportunity to focus on what they do best."
"FuelQuest is pleased to partner with Maxum
to address their excise tax compliance needs
as they aggressively grow their fuel
distribution network," said Matt Tormollen,
president and CEO of FuelQuest. "FuelQuest's
Zytax solutions are best in class and
simultaneously reduce business risk and the
resources necessary to ensure compliance with
fuel-related excise taxes."
Maxum Petroleum, Inc., based in Greenwich,
CT, is a leading independent energy logistics
company that markets and distributes a
comprehensive offering of refined petroleum
products and services to commercial and
industrial customers.
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Zytax, a
wholly owned subsidiary of FuelQuest, Inc.,
supplies strategic software automation
solutions for global indirect tax
determination and excise motor fuel
compliance for the energy industry. Zytax
solutions provide complete visibility across
the tax organization increasing the ability
to track, forecast and report tax obligations
while mitigating risk and reducing fines,
fees and penalties.
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Ashland Inc. Reports Fiscal First-Quarter - Looks Good |
Ashland announced preliminary results for
the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2009, the first
quarter of its 2010 fiscal year.
Specific to its lubricants business, the
company says, Ashland Consumer Markets' sales
were $400
million, 3 percent above the December 2008
quarter. Total lubricant volume increased by
22 percent versus an unusually weak
prior-year quarter. Same-store sales at
Valvoline Instant Oil Change increased 4
percent over the prior year. Gross profit was
33.9 percent of sales in the December 2009
quarter versus 21.8 percent in the year-ago
quarter and 35.5 percent in the September
2009 quarter. The sequential reduction was
primarily due to higher raw material costs
and lower private-label margins, partially
offset by higher selling prices beginning in
November. While SG&A expenses rose 10 percent
over the year-ago quarter, largely the result
of higher advertising expenses, SG&A declined
8 percent sequentially. Overall, Consumer
Markets' quarterly EBITDA was $76 million, as
compared with $28 million in the year-ago
quarter, and was slightly less than the $79
million earned in the seasonally stronger
September 2009 quarter. EBITDA margins were
19.0 percent and 7.2 percent of sales in the
December 2009 and 2008 quarters,
respectively. The December 2009 quarter marks
the fourth consecutive quarter with EBITDA
margins above 18 percent.
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