ILMA Compoundings October 2016 - 32

THE ICIS VIEW

those of Argentina or Colombia, Peru or
Chile - as well as other South American
countries.
While a quick uptake is likely in the North
American market, particularly in the U.S.,
a slower uptake is more likely in the South
American countries. For example, where
Brazil might lead in the move to lower
viscosity oils in South America, other
South American countries might integrate
these oils at a significantly slower pace
either because of preferences or because
of less regulatory pressure or because of
complex car populations that have many
vehicles older than 10 years. Even in the
North American market, Mexico's uptake
pace for light viscosity oils is likely to take
longer than in the U.S. because of the
different vehicle aging levels.
"The introduction of lower-viscosity
lubricants for fuel economy is the biggest
challenge the lube industry has right now,"
said Margareth Carvalho of Infineum
Brazil, in a conference presentation earlier
this summer.
Carvalho went on to explain that reduced
carbon dioxide (CO2) emission goals
and regulations are involved in the drive
toward improving fuel economy. The
engine lubricant (primarily base oil) is
an enabler to reducing CO2 emissions
because lower viscosity oils can lead to
increased fuel economy, which in turn
leads to reductions in the CO2 emissions.

Brown pointed out that there are many
types of Group III base stocks. Some of
these have limited interchangeability for
the OEM performance claims, leading
major players to invest in the highestperformance products.
There are a number of production
technology routes to Group III base oils
which creates variations in the broad
Group III base stock industry output.
These variations can be involved in the
limited interchangeability aspect. This can
have a less than positive effect in meeting
OEM goals if base oil substitutions
are attempted without attention to
interchangeability capabilities of the base
stock chosen for blending to the engine
oil.

Other items including greater
compatibility with emission catalysts
come along for the ride and are
important in maintaining the fuel
economy characteristics.
For passenger cars, the move in motor
oils is toward 5W-40 SAE (Society of
Automotive Engineers) viscosity levels,
and lower - as low as 0W-20 - all
sought because of the fuel economy
standards needed to meet regulatory and
performance issues.

Taylor is senior editor manager, ICIS base
oils. She may be reached at 713-525-2607 or
judith.taylor@icis.com.

Advantages of Group III base stocks
include baseline integration to lowviscosity engine oils, excellent lowtemperature properties and low
evaporative loss, as well as the ability to
make the ultra-low viscosity engine oil
grades.

Group III Posted Price Trends for U.S.

Speaking in June this year at Brazil's Lube
em Foco Meet the Market conference
held in Rio de Janeiro - a key meeting
for South American lubricant producers
and buyers - Mike Brown, vice president
of technology/lubricant and base oil
business for SK Lubricants, offered
insights on the advantages of Group III
base oil technology and performance
characteristics.

Vol. 66 No. 10 * 32 * October 2016 Compoundings

ILMA Compoundings October 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ILMA Compoundings October 2016