Lubrizol continues supply chain overhaul, issues price increases

Tag : sb latex

Specialty chemical maker Lubrizol continued its overhaul byannouncing that it plans to close its Avon Lake, Ohio plant andbeginning in the third quarter it will transition selected acrylicemulsions from the Ohio site to other North American emulsionproduction facilities in Pedricktown, N.J. and Gastonia, N.C.
Lubrizol also said based on continued market and cost pressures, itwill also cease production of styrene butadiene (SB) latex at itsGastonia plant and purchase SB latex from outside suppliers tosatisfy internal demand as necessary.
The news came shortly after Wickliffe, Ohio-based Lubrizolannounced it will follow in the footsteps of Dow Chemical and Rohmand Haas and raise prices on all product lines from 12-20%. Companyofficials said the amount of the price increase will vary based onthe individual product's exposure to raw materials costfluctuations.
James Hambrick, Lubrizol's president and CEO said, “Our rawmaterial and energy costs have been impacted significantly by theunprecedented surge in crude oil and natural gas costs, both ofwhich have increased over 40% since early 2008...it is essentialthat we implement price increases to recover these costincreases.”
Earlier this year, the specialty chemicals maker shuttered aperformance coatings facility in Lawrence, Mass., and restructuredthe unit's sales, marketing and research and developmentorganization.
In a statement on its web site, Lubrizol said, “Over the pastseveral years, each Lubrizol business segment has implementednumerous price increases to address rising raw material and energycosts. However, recent substantial escalations in the cost of keyraw materials, production-related utilities and freight necessitatethis enterprise-wide and global price action.”