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Lubrizol to hike prices up to 20% |
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Lubrizol Corp announced on Friday of last week
what it calls "a global price increase" for all
its product lines, effective June 16.
Lubrizol said the majority of the increases will
be in the range of 12% to 20%. The actual price
increases will be dependent upon the specific
product's exposure to increasing raw materials
costs and energy-related production costs.
Lubrizol said it will review all terms with its
customers.
Lubrizol said the pricing action includes
previously announced price increases currently
being implemented in the Lubrizol Additives
segment and in certain Lubrizol Advanced
Materials product lines.
In discussing the price hikes, Lubrizol
chairman, president and CEO James Hambrick said
in a statement, "Our raw material and energy
costs have been impacted significantly by the
unprecedented surge in crude oil and natural gas
costs, both of which have increased over 40%
since early 2008. We continue to execute
strategies designed to improve efficiencies and
reduce operating costs, but it is essential that
we implement price increases to recover these
cost increases and sustain our viability as a
valued supplier to our customers and their
industries."
JobbersWorld Editorial: For the few
distributors that may not be familiar with
Lubrizol, Lubrizol is one of the four leading
suppliers of lubricant additives to the US
market. And when you consider the number and
magnitude of price hikes already pushed through
on finished lubricants this year, together with
the fact that additives account for roughly 40
to 50% of the cost to make an engine oil,
Lubrizol's announcement is certainly cause for
concern.
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ServicePro Makes Exciting Announcements |
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The Association of Independent Oil Distributors
(AIOD) met with its members last month in
Cleveland, Ohio where it made several exciting
announcements. According to Doug Roberts,
Executive Director for the association, the
first announcement was that AIOD's ServicePro
brand of engine oil will be transitioned from
conventional to synthetic blends by July 1. This
transition applies to its 5W-20, 5W-30, and
10W-30.
The company also announced the launch of it's
new online virtual training center "VTS."
According to Roberts, AIOD teamed up with Ziglar
Training to bring revolutionary technology
coupled with the best of today's training and
education." The training center is designed to
deliver product, marketing and skill development
information in an interactive format 24/7. In
addition it provides real-time tracking and
reporting to AIOD members in a consistent and
user friendly format.
Roberts says the virtual training center has
five product categories to chose from and one
skill development category "fueled by proven Zig
Ziglar principles." The skills development
category includes training on sales skills and
relationship strategies. Each training module
includes testing and scoring to assure mastery
of the subject mater.
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Shell Adds "Temporary Fuel Credit" to Buyback
Fees |
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On June 6th Shell announced it will incorporate
a "temporary fuel credit" to its buy-back fees.
The credit will provide Shell's distributors
with an additional $0.06 a gallon on lubricants
and $0.01 a pound on grease. According to Shell,
the credit is provided in response to the rapid
escalation in the price of diesel fuel and the
impact this has on the costs to deliver buyback
business.
The temporary fuel credit is effective July 1
and Shell has reportedly told its marketers it
reserves the right to withdraw the credit in
whole, or in part, based on market conditions.
Bravo Shell for being the first major
to directly address the impact fuel costs have
on buyback business. And for those that
subscribe to the full version of JobbersWorld,
please take the time to read the cover story
"Burning Fuel and Profits." Because whereas
Shell's temporary fuel credit is a major step in
the right direction, other marketers can be
losing big bucks while their suppliers study the
impact of higher fuel prices on the cost to
deliver buyback business.
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