Tag: Lubrizol

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A new report by Research and Markets, “Smart Coatings Markets 2016-2025,” highlights the growth prospects of smart coatings made by companies such as Berkshire Hathaway’s Lubrizol Corporation.

The report suggests that smart coatings have reached a stage of technological maturity where they can replace traditional anti-corrosion, anti-icing, anti-fouling, and other industrial protective coatings. These smart protective coatings will reach approximately $2 billion in sales by 2021, based on their ability reduce downtime and maintenance costs for vehicles, marine vessels, buildings and large pieces of industrial machinery.

The research also sees a new opportunity opening up for smart coatings in the consumer sector, where sales of these coatings to consumer electronics, furniture, textiles, etc., will be worth around $1 billion by 2021. Low-end self-cleaning and self-healing sprays have been available to the consumer market for many years. But durable smart consumer coatings are now reaching price points that will make them attractive to high-income consumer markets with strong use cases that can compete with anti-scratch coatings and other polishes.

In addition, the research sees the smart coatings business finding new commercial directions through the use of the latest nanomaterials and notes that developing smart coatings has become one focus for firms developing applications for carbon nanotubes and graphene.

Berkshire Hathaway and Lubrizol

Founded in 1928, and acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 2011, the Lubrizol Corporation is a leading supplier to manufacturers in various industries, including paints and coatings, printing inks, plastics, engineered paper, textiles and packaging.

Lubrizol’s Performance Coating division focusses on surface coating innovation. Solsperse®, Lanco™ and Hycar® are well-known Lubrizol trade names within the Performance Coatings product line.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Lubrizol, a wholly-owned company of Berkshire Hathaway, has decided to close its Latexo, Texas manufacturing facility. The plant was acquired by Lubrizol in December 2014 when it purchased the oilfield chemicals business from Weatherford International PLC.

At the time, the acquisition was valued somewhere in the realm $750-$825 million.

The Latexo facility produces chemical treatments for oil and gas production and produces waters, as well as additives for drilling, work-over and stimulation operations. The facility currently has 40 employees.

Lubrizol anticipates shuttering the Latexo facility in the first quarter of 2017, after it has finished transitioning production to other facilities.

Lubrizol says that everything possible will be done to ensure that the employees are treated with respect and compassion as the transition takes place, and employees affected by the plant closure will be offered severance packages.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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The human body has had one clear advantage over plastic, get a scratch and you heal, scratch your glasses and you are out of luck. Until now.

The Lubrizol Corporation’s Engineered Polymers business, showcased several new and differentiated polymer solutions at Plastimagen 2016 in Mexico City, Mexico, on March 8-11, 2016.

Among the products it debuted was Estane® VSN 9000 Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU), which has unique self-healing properties and other highly desirable functional benefits such as dimensional stability and chemical resistance.

Estane VSN 9000 improves product performance and operational outcomes for designers, brands and producers of high-end eyewear frames.

The product is being marketed for eyeglasses stems and frames material, and its self-healing properties can remove scratches made during production or shipping.

With Estane VSN 9000 scratches disappear in less than a minute when placed in water that is heated to 90 degrees Celsius.

Now, if someone can just help you find your glasses when you forget where you put them.

About Lubrizol

Based in Wickliffe, Ohio, Lubrizol owns and operates manufacturing facilities in 17 countries, as well as sales and technical offices around the world. Founded in 1928, Lubrizol has approximately 9,000 employees worldwide. It sells its specialty chemical products in over 100 countries.

Berkshire Hathaway acquired Lubrizol in 2011 for $9 billion in cash. Revenues for 2015 were $7 billion.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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The Lubrizol Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, will rebuild a $10 million warehouse that was destroyed in a fire on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015.

The warehouse was acquired by Lubrizol in early 2015 when the specialty chemicals-manufacturer purchased the oilfield chemicals business from Weatherford International PLC.

At the time, the deal was the biggest “bolt-on” acquisition Lubrizol had made since it was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 2011.

The landlord, Chapman Properties, owners of the Leetsdale Industrial Park, has presented plans to the Leetsdale Planning Commission to rebuild the Lubrizol Corp. Oilfield Chemistry site.

The Leetsdale Industrial Park is a two million square foot mixed-use facility located on the Ohio River and Route 65 outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Under the terms of Lubrizol’s lease with Chapman Properties, Chapman has 180 days to rebuild the warehouse from the date of the fire, which began when workers were pouring hydraulic fracturing chemicals into a production tank and quickly grew to a five-alarm fire.

About Lubrizol

Based in Wickliffe, Ohio, Lubrizol owns and operates manufacturing facilities in 17 countries, as well as sales and technical offices around the world. Founded in 1928, Lubrizol has approximately 9,000 employees worldwide. It sells its specialty chemical products in over 100 countries.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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The Lubrizol Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, has announces the official opening of a chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) compounding plant in Dahej, India.

According to the company, the opening represents the culmination of Lubrizol’s latest industry leading investments in its global expansion of the company’s FlowGuard®, BlazeMaster® and Corzan® compound manufacturing sites.

These most recent investments, which were announced in 2013, total more than $200 million (INR1300 CR) and also include the 2015 opening of a resin manufacturing facility as part of a joint investment in Rayong, Thailand, as well as an expansion of the company’s manufacturing facility in Louisville, Kentucky.

Strategically located in the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC), which is one of the largest chemical parks in India, Lubrizol is the first major global producer of CPVC to establish operations in India.

With capacity to produce approximately 55,000 metric tons of compounds annually, the more than $50 million U.S. investment (INR 325 CR) in this plant further solidifies Lubrizol’s commitment to the Indian market.

Lubrizol touts the site’s prime location positions the company to serve not only the growing Indian market, but to also support the emerging growth of its FlowGuard®, BlazeMaster® and Corzan® businesses in South Asia, the Middle East and East Africa.

“Our recent expansion efforts, combined with our existing operations, positions Lubrizol to continue to be a strong market leader for many years to come,” stated Eric Schnur, president of Lubrizol Advanced Materials. “We are pleased to have an unmatched global footprint that provides our partners with reliable, high quality compounds to enable them to achieve their overall growth objectives.”

“With construction projects in non-metro cities expected to continue to increase in India, and with the central government of India aiming to build more smart cities, the demand for trustworthy piping systems is expected to rise,” said Manoj Dhar, head of TempRite® Engineered Polymers in South Asia.

“Lubrizol is dedicated to providing our customers with the highest quality piping products through our insistence of using only the best raw materials, and our new India compounding plant will use the industry’s most advanced compounding technology used in our FlowGuard, BlazeMaster and Corzan products developed in the U.S. and employed in our manufacturing sites around the globe.”

About Lubrizol

Based in Wickliffe, Ohio, Lubrizol owns and operates manufacturing facilities in 17 countries, as well as sales and technical offices around the world. Founded in 1928, Lubrizol has approximately 9,000 employees worldwide. It sells its specialty chemical products in over 100 countries.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Lubrizol, a maker of specialty chemicals for a wide variety of applications, is launching a new series of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) products, Estane SMART TPU, for smart wearable devices.

The Estane SMART TPU product portfolio is specifically designed to address the rapidly growing wearable device market, particularly for soft touch bands in smartwatches and fitness tracker applications.

The Estane SMART TPU series includes both aromatic and aliphatic TPU grades with hardness levels ranging from 70A to 88A. Depending on OEM requirements, the product portfolio offers the wearable market a solution for soft materials having robust mechanical properties and a good chemical and UV resistance.

Junkers Wang, global market segment manager, Estane Engineered Polymers Industrial Consumer Electronics, says: “The new product series will further strengthen our intimacy with electronics OEMs along with other ongoing elastomer based projects that are already in production. Estane SMART TPU is off to an amazing start as some of the products have been adopted by premium OEMs for wristband applications.”

According to the company, its Estane TPU portfolio bridges the gap between flexible rubber and rigid plastics.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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The Lubrizol Corporation, a specialty chemical manufacturer owned by Berkshire Hathaway, has released two products for the growing stationary natural gas market. The products are new advanced 4-stroke low ash technologies: Lubrizol® SG9L01 and Lubrizol® SG9L20.

The World’s Fastest Growing Energy Resource

Lubrizol notes that the Stationary natural gas is one of the world’s fastest growing primary energy resources, accounting for 24% of the global primary energy consumption and anticipated to increase 50% by 2040 according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Among the many market applications for stationary natural gas are: power generation, cogeneration, gas compression, biogas, landfill and more, and these areas have developed increasingly complex requirements for desired operation.

Lubrizol’s stationary natural gas lubricants work to optimize engine performance and provide:

• Extended service life for maximized uptime
• Robust protection against the most severe gasses
• Enhanced reduction in harmful deposits
• Assured emissions compliance

“Over the past decade, Lubrizol has dedicated significant resources and capital to the development of these highly advanced additive packages,” says Al Haas, Lubrizol global product manager, Stationary Natural Gas Engines.

According to the company, Lubrizol SG9L01 delivers enhanced varnish and deposit protection at extreme temperatures, reduced combustion chamber deposits, improved copper corrosion protection and excellent wear protection with Lubrizol Hyper® ZDP Technology. Lubrizol SG9L20 offers these benefits and beyond, delivering breakthrough extended oil life for maximized uptime, improved maintenance interval planning and increased overhaul intervals.

“Lubrizol’s advanced technology resources brought these products to life,” says Paul Nai, Lubrizol global business manager, Large and Small Engines “We’ve put novel chemistry to work in order to deliver higher performance beyond what has been seen before in stationary natural gas additive technology.”

Lubrizol’s investment in stationary natural gas and its development of new additive packages reflect the company’s commitment to this important and growing market.

© 2015 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway’s Lubrizol Corporation is investing $15 million in its LifeSciences’ Vesta business to expand its global manufacturing facilities.

The goal is to better position LifeSciences to serve the growing market for medical device contract manufacturing.

Lubrizol has been investing heavily in LifeSciences, and in August 2015, acquired Particle Sciences, a global leader in complex formulations including drug eluting device product development.

Since 2014, Lubrizol LifeSciences has solidified its presence in the life sciences market by introducing new products and making strategic acquisitions. This capital investment will expand multiple facilities and increase Lubrizol LifeSciences’ in-house engineering capacity for both silicone and thermoplastic products.

“We have significantly enhanced our capabilities through the combination of strong polymer technology, application know-how and world-class component manufacturing,” states Deb Langer, vice president and general manager, Lubrizol LifeSciences. “As healthcare companies look for total solution providers, we continue to invest in the right areas to provide valuable offerings to our customers.”

Vesta, Inc. was acquired by Lubrizol in August of 2014 and is a leading contract manufacturer for the global medical device industry. With the addition of Vesta, Lubrizol LifeSciences now offers disposable and implantable silicone medical components and assemblies across a wide product portfolio, as well as precision thermoplastic extruded tubing.

According to Lubrizol, the recent acquisition of Particle Sciences, Inc. has positioned Lubrizol LifeSciences as one of the most comprehensive drug delivery device solution providers, offering end-to-end solutions in the healthcare market.

“When customers partner with Lubrizol LifeSciences, they benefit from working with us at every stage in their development process,” states Robert Miller, global business director, medical devices. “With a long history of polymer expertise and significant investment, Lubrizol LifeSciences is positioned to offer full-service development for next generation medical and pharmaceutical innovations.”

About Lubrizol

Based in Wickliffe, Ohio, Lubrizol owns and operates manufacturing facilities in 17 countries, as well as sales and technical offices around the world. Founded in 1928, Lubrizol has approximately 7,500 employees worldwide. It sells its specialty chemical products in over 100 countries.

Berkshire Hathaway acquired Lubrizol in 2011 for $9 billion in cash.

© 2015 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway’s wholly-owned specialty chemical company, Lubrizol Specialty Products Inc., is planning to build a 66,000 square-foot building in Bryan, Texas.

Under the terms of the Chapter 380 agreement that was approved earlier this month by the Bryan city council, Lubrizol will receive 100 percent tax abatements in year one, 70 percent in year two, and the tax abatements would then decrease by 10 percent each year, ending at 10 percent in year eight.

Lubrizol will also be reimbursed an amount not to exceed $75,000 for development costs including site plans, platting and permit fees for the new facility. The reimbursement is eligible upon upon the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy for the facility.

In exchange for the abatements, Lubrizol agrees to construct the 66,000 square-foot building, a minimum of $25 million in real property while maintaining a minimum increase in Brazos Central Appraisal District value of $20 million.

In addition, Lubrizol must hire at least 24 new employees with an increased payroll of $1.5 million.

About Lubrizol

Based in Wickliffe, Ohio, Lubrizol owns and operates manufacturing facilities in 17 countries, as well as sales and technical offices around the world. Founded in 1928, Lubrizol has approximately 7,500 employees worldwide. It sells its specialty chemical products in over 100 countries.

© 2015 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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The Lubrizol Corporation has opened a chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) resin manufacturing facility in Rayong, Thailand. The new facility is part of a joint investment with Sekisui Chemical Company, Ltd. Construction on the 25,600-square-meter-site began in April 2014.

The plant opening is the latest in Lubrizol’s efforts to increase global CPVC capacity that it previously announced in 2013.

CPVC resin manufactured at this site will be a key ingredient in Lubrizol’s proprietary Flowguard®, Blazemaster® and Corzan® compounds that are used by its customers to provide quality piping systems for the global building and construction industry.

CPVC is a high heat and corrosion resistant chlorinated polyvinyl chloride material. It can be used up to 180º F, and its excellent corrosion resistance at elevated temperatures makes it well-suited for self-supporting constructions where high temperatures are involved.

“We are dedicated to providing our customers with high quality compounds to support the global building and construction market,” said Eric Schnur, president of Lubrizol Advanced Materials. “This facility is an important part of our expanded global manufacturing and supply infrastructure that enables Lubrizol to be a more valuable supplier to our customers, helping them to achieve their growth targets in new and existing markets and geographies.”

According to Lubrizol, the Thailand facility, combined with its other recent investments in Louisville, Kentucky and Dahej, India, as well as its existing CPVC operations around the globe, better positions the organization to support its future business growth. The resin Lubrizol will ship from the Thailand plant will be further processed at these other Lubrizol facilities using proprietary processes developed through more than 50 years of compounding expertise.

To commemorate the plant opening, Lubrizol and Sekisui hosted an opening ceremony at the plant. Schnur, along with several other members of Lubrizol’s management team, were in Thailand for the opening, as were members of Sekisui’s management team and officials with the Thai government.

About Lubrizol

Based in Wickliffe, Ohio, Lubrizol owns and operates manufacturing facilities in 17 countries, as well as sales and technical offices around the world. Founded in 1928, Lubrizol has approximately 7,500 employees worldwide. It sells its specialty chemical products in over 100 countries.

© 2015 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.