Tag: Lubrizol

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Berkshire Hathaway’s Lubrizol Corporation, a global leader in specialty chemicals, has sold its surfactant plant in Paso Robles, California, to Texas-based Coast Southwest.

No price of the transaction was announced.

Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Coast Southwest is a leading full-service, chemical distribution and ingredient technology company.

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 a 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, a global leader in specialty chemicals, is reinforcing its commitment to growth in India with a series of noteworthy projects spanning its portfolio. With an investment exceeding $150 million, Lubrizol is embarking on groundbreaking initiatives that include the construction of India’s largest CPVC resin plant in Vilayat, Gujarat, doubling the capacity of its site in Dahej, Gujarat, establishing a grease lab in Navi Mumbai, and facilitating substantial job growth and innovation within the country.

Lubrizol takes immense pride in announcing its continued dedication to India. Through a multi-year plan, the company will make substantial investments that contribute to clean drinking water, enhanced transportation accessibility, job creation, and sustainable innovation for India’s growing population.

Lubrizol’s involvement in India dates back to 1966 when it began local manufacturing of chemical additives supporting transportation and industrial markets. Over the years, the company’s presence and contributions in India have significantly expanded, offering tailor-made products and solutions for a wide range of industries.

The company’s employee base in India has consistently grown to meet both regional and global requirements. It anticipates generating 4,000 direct and indirect jobs through various new investment ventures:

1. Enabling the World’s Largest CPVC Resin Production with Grasim Industries Limited: Lubrizol introduced CPVC to the Indian market in 2001, presenting a significant economic opportunity for the region. Today, India stands as one of the largest consumers of CPVC, primarily in the form of plumbing pipe and fittings. The growing demand for clean water in residential and commercial buildings is poised to drive further expansion. Lubrizol, in partnership with Grasim Industries Limited, a flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, will commence the first phase of a state-of-the-art CPVC resin plant with a capacity of 100,000 metric tons in Vilayat. This groundbreaking project will establish the largest single-site CPVC resin production globally, supplying Lubrizol’s renowned brands like FlowGuard® Plus, Corzan®, and BlazeMaster®.

2. Providing Access to Clean Drinking Water by Doubling CPVC Capacity and Establishing R&D Capabilities in Dahej, Gujarat: Lubrizol plans to double its existing CPVC compound capacity at Dahej, Gujarat, from 70,000 to 140,000 metric tons. Additionally, the company intends to establish a local R&D center, marking its second global research facility after North America. With this investment, Lubrizol becomes the sole company in India with end-to-end CPVC capabilities, well-positioned to serve the needs of local Indian customers. The expanded capacity will also cater to neighboring high-growth markets such as Nepal, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.

3. Supporting Transportation and Industrial Customers Worldwide with the Mumbai India Grease Lab and Turbhe Expansion: Lubrizol is firmly committed to supplying high-performance, cost-effective industrial grease-thickening solutions to grease manufacturers globally. Earlier this year, the company unveiled a new grease lab in Navi Mumbai, India, dedicated to testing and developing calcium sulfonate greases with significant potential in the industrial grease market. Since 2020, Lubrizol’s Additives business has introduced over 35 new blends for transportation and industrial applications localized in India. The company has also expanded its production site in Turbhe, incorporating a new storage facility and filtration capabilities.

4. Meeting the Personal Care and Home Care Needs of a Growing Middle Class, with a Focus on Sustainability: As the middle class in India continues to expand, there is an increasing demand for beauty and home care products within the region. As a leading provider of solutions for the beauty and home care industries, Lubrizol is committed to innovative, sustainable solutions that unlock opportunities for its partners in India. For instance, the use of detergent bars for cleaning dishes and laundry is a common practice in India. However, these bars can become soft and ineffective if they remain wet for too long, resulting in inconsistent cleaning and significant waste. To address this, Lubrizol’s Home Care team established a Center of Excellence for laundry bars in Mumbai. This initiative helped a global home care leader achieve its sustainability goals while streamlining processes, earning Lubrizol a sustainability award from the customer earlier this year.

In addition to these significant projects, Lubrizol plans to continue investing in Centers of Excellence capabilities to capitalize on the growth opportunities within the region. These initiatives reflect Lubrizol’s steadfast commitment to India’s development and its unwavering dedication to driving innovation, sustainability, and economic progress.

© 2023 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 a 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 Life Science Health (LLS Health) is taking a new, consumer-led approach to its added-value nutraceuticals.

At Vitafoods Europe in Geneva, which takes place from May 9 to 11, 2023, LLS Health will unveil its mission to synchronize supplement makers with their customers’ behaviors. The company’s increased consumer focus will highlight the strengths of its current portfolio of insight-based solutions designed to deliver strong, market-driven product benefits for its customers.

LLS Health has partnered with 113 industries, an AI-driven research company that specializes in developing consumer behavior models using machine learning and AI to gather and analyze vast relevant consumer-generated content. The objective was to gain deeper insights into the purchasing behavior of dietary supplements based on conversations and activities on social media platforms. The research characterized several types of supplement consumers, including health-hooked consumers eager to explore new products to maintain overall well-being, informed seekers of solutions to personal problems, irregular users, mechanical users, skeptics who believe in “food first and supplements only when necessary,” and fertility/pregnancy-minded consumers.

Lubrizol’s goal is to satisfy both the logical, fact-driven, and the emotional, sensory-driven sides of the consumer mind. By investing in new market research and focusing on trending health benefit platforms, Lubrizol brings its customers actionable insights coupled with unique, science-backed branded ingredients while collaborating on supplement innovation. The company’s approach puts consumer needs first, helping manufacturers align with consumer insights and goals.

© 2023 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 a 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 Life Science (LLS) – Health, a pharmaceutical company based in Cleveland, Ohio, has been awarded The Medicine Maker 2022 Innovation Award for its revolutionary technology – Apisolex™ Polymer solubilizing excipient.

The Apisolex solubilizing excipient is designed to enhance the solubility of BCS class II and IV APIs by up to 50,000-fold, allowing medications that would have otherwise been discarded to reach the market. The technology is injectable grade and designed to work with simple formulation techniques, streamlining manufacturing and minimizing API loss. It can be mixed with an aqueous-based solution, followed by sterile filtration and lyophilization to form micellar structures that encapsulate the API during lyophilization. The resulting formulation is stable and can be readily resuspended in common diluents for administration, reconstituting in less than 30 seconds in saline.

Apisolex technology stood out from a record number of nominations received, and readers and visitors to The Medicine Maker website voted for their favorite technology. LLS Health emerged as the grand winner.
Joey Glassco, Senior Global Market Manager, Parenterals at LLS Health, expressed her gratitude for the recognition, saying, “We are honored for Apisolex solubilizing excipient to be recognized by readers of The Medicine Maker for this prestigious innovation award. My hope is that winning this award will allow drug formulators struggling with water-insoluble APIs to discover the polymer’s benefits so that more life-changing medications can make it to market.”

Gaurab Sengupta, Senior Global Business Director, Pharmaceuticals & Nutraceuticals at LLS Health, conveyed what this award means to LLS – Health, saying, “This recognition highlights our commitment to delivering innovative solutions that address critical challenges in the pharmaceutical industry. We’ve zeroed in on a clear unmet need in the solubility enhancement market for critical life-changing drugs. This award demonstrates we are on the right track, validating our efforts to ensure this product is successful.” The Medicine Maker Innovation Awards showcase new drug development and manufacturing technology that has been introduced to the market in 2022. The award signifies LLS Health’s significant contribution to the pharmaceutical industry with its innovative solution. We can expect to learn more about this technology in a future issue of The Medicine Maker.

© 2023 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 a 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 The Lubrizol Corporation has opened a new grease lab in Navi Mumbai, India, to support the testing and development of calcium sulfonate greases with strong potential in the industrial grease market.

Lithium soaps have long been a widely used thickener for grease applications, but vehicle electrification has led to a dramatic rise in lithium demand in recent years. Over the long term, grease manufacturers will face supply constraints as supply will be favoring battery manufacturers.

“Lithium demand isn’t slowing, and grease manufacturers will very soon require a reliable thickening alternative,” said Sanjeev Kaul, Chairman and Managing Director, Lubrizol Additives India. “We want to help manufacturers throughout the region stay ahead of the curve and sharpen their competitive edge with possible alternate solutions.”

Calcium Sulfonate complex greases-based formulations can be an effective alternative to lithium soaps. OBCS (Over-Based Calcium Sulfonate) provides reliable thickening properties, good compatibility with base oils and additives, and suitable performance for long-term use. Lubrizol’s new India lab will support the rigorous testing required for OBCS formulations to demonstrate their full potential.

“India is a unique market with unique demands,” adds Kaul. “There is limited support available in the form of third-party testing labs in India focused on greases. With this lab, we are supporting small- to mid-size grease manufacturers in the region with grease development and testing services and support that can promote the development of calcium sulfonate based greases and increase their sales.”

© 2023 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 a 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 The Lubrizol Corporation has announced the appointment of a new Lubrizol Executive Leadership Team. These experienced business leaders will continue to support the organization’s world-class talent and committed customers, advancing breakthrough chemistry that helps the world Move Cleaner, Create Smarter and Live Better.

“For more than 90 years, Lubrizol science has solved complex challenges and advanced new opportunities across a variety of industries,” said Lubrizol President and CEO Rebecca Liebert. “We’re pairing that history of innovation with strong leadership, drawn from inside and outside our organization, to propel our Lubrizol people, customers, technology and enterprise operations to our next 100 years of growth.”

In addition to oversight by President and CEO Rebecca Liebert, Lubrizol will be led by these proven executive leaders:

Julie Edgar, Senior VP and Chief Technology Officer
Julie Edgar brings more than 25 years of Lubrizol technology and commercial management positions across Asia, Europe and North America to the role of Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, focused on overseeing the company’s technology teams globally. Julie most recently served as Vice President, LZA Transportation, and brings a deep understanding of our chemistry, products and sustainable solutions, having previously served as Lubrizol’s first Chief Sustainability Officer.

Jose Gonzalez-Magaz, Senior VP and Chief Legal Officer
Effective March 1, 2023, Jose Gonzalez-Magaz will join the organization as Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer. Jose brings nearly 30 years of experience as a transformative business partner, including expanding commercial opportunities, protecting against and minimizing risk, leading organic and M&A growth, and optimizing the performance of legal teams for global organizations. Jose was most recently with Marmon Holdings, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company.

Jeff Lauderdale will serve as Lubrizol’s interim Chief Legal Officer until Jose’s arrival, bringing more than 20 years of legal experience to the role, including a variety of legal leadership positions within Lubrizol.

Shuja Ishrat, Senior VP and Chief Information Officer
Shuja Ishrat was appointed as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer. Shuja has nearly 30 years of experience with global business systems development and transformation. He is a hands-on leader and strategic technology executive with a proven history of operational excellence while transforming IT organizations into high-performing teams aligned to business goals. He was most recently with Jabil, a solutions company providing advanced manufacturing and technology services.

James “JT” Jones, Senior VP of Procurement and High-Growth Regions, Chief Procurement Officer
JT Jones will assume the role of Senior VP of Procurement and High-Growth Regions and Chief Procurement Officer. JT has significant international experience and more than 20 years of business development, strategy, procurement, operations, financial, senior sales management and P&L leadership experience at preeminent international consulting and Fortune 500 chemical and coatings companies, most recently at PPG Industries.

Flavio Kliger, Senior VP and President of Lubrizol Additives
Flavio Kliger was appointed as Senior Vice President and President of Lubrizol Additives. Since joining Lubrizol in 2017, he served as Senior Director for the company’s Industry Formulated Fluids & Greases business. Prior to Lubrizol, Flavio spent more than 20 years at The Dow Chemical Company, where his career spanned increasing responsibility in multiple commercial and general management roles in three countries, touching all range of product, from basic chemicals to specialty chemicals, in multiple-end user industries.

Trina Nally, Senior VP and Chief Human Resources Officer
Trina Nally was appointed as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. With 30 years of human resources experience, Trina is a strategic and results-oriented people and culture leader. She has a track record of aligning company strategy, structure, culture, capabilities, and rewards to build high-performing organizations. Most recently she served as Senior Vice President, People & Culture for BP’s Customers & Products business, the company’s largest customer-facing business unit with 27,000 employees across more than 50 countries.

Arnau Pano, Senior VP and President of Lubrizol Advanced Materials
Arnau Pano was appointed as Senior Vice President and President of Lubrizol Advanced Materials (LZAM). Arnau was previously Vice President, Engineered Polymers and LZAM South Asia, where he led the Engineered Polymers division, in addition to overseeing LZAM’s South Asia region. He has been with Lubrizol for more than a decade, following Lubrizol’s acquisition of Merquinsa where Arnau served as CEO. Arnau also spent more than 15 years with General Electric where he held diverse business management positions.

Eduardo Pedreira, VP, Supply Chain
Eduardo Pedreira was appointed Vice President of Supply Chain, leading the team in strategic supply planning, production scheduling, customer service and business partnerships. Eduardo has an accomplished history as a transformational supply chain and operations leader with more than 17 years of experience at PPG Industries. At PPG, Eduardo served as Global Resin Business Director, where he led the PPG vertical integration on the resin portfolio, managing the overall strategy including operations, supply chain, procurement, capital investment and technical development.

LG Tackett, Senior VP, Operations
LG Tackett was named Senior Vice President of Operations, responsible for the safe and efficient operations of the company’s 55 manufacturing facilities in 17 countries around the world. An industry veteran of 30 years, LG’s extensive global leadership is rooted in safety, process safety, operations, reliability, supply chain, and engineering. He was most recently Vice President of Global Operations for PPG Industries Industrial Segment.

Davies Walker, Senior VP and Chief Financial Officer
Davies Walker was appointed Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. With more than 20 years of finance and business management experience, Davies has a proven record of leading multi-billion-dollar global manufacturing businesses to financial growth and profitability. Most recently, he served as Vice President and CFO for Honeywell Process Solutions.

These leaders will be supported by more than 8,000 talented Lubrizol employees serving customers across the world.

© 2023 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 a 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 The Lubrizol Corporation has announced a partnership with Netherlands-based iXora BV, the leader in rack mountable immersive cooling.

Data centers are primarily cooled by inefficient, expensive air conditioners that consume unnecessary energy. Lubrizol’s immersion cooling ecosystem, using CompuZol immersion fluids, addresses the limitations posed by air-cooled methods by delivering turn-key, sustainable solutions that enable superior thermal management and more infrastructure density.

iXora BV, the leader in rack mountable immersive cooling, has become a certified partner of this ecosystem, coupling its innovative closed cassette server housing solution exclusively using Lubrizol’s CompuZol immersion fluids to deliver a unique and versatile cooling system to the marketplace.

After recent announcements regarding partnerships with other key industry stakeholders in the chip manufacturing, digital infrastructure, and service and support markets, Lubrizol’s partnership with iXora provides another critical piece to its ecosystem solution in the fast-growing market of immersive cooling. iXora’s unique modular architecture used in combination with CompuZol immersion cooling fluids, protects customers’ enterprise infrastructure investments and simplifies serviceability, easing key barriers to market adoption.

“We are excited by our common vision for immersion cooling and how engineering excellence and innovation can achieve those ambitions,” said Job Witteman, CEO and cofounder of iXora. “iXora’s rack mountable, silent immersive cooling solution per individual server, is a well-suited partner for Lubrizol’s industry leading immersion cooled ecosystem solution. Fully compatible with industry-standard 19” racks, it will allow data centers to migrate to immersion cooling without having to change existing workflows and infrastructure.

“And, when paired with Lubrizol’s CompuZol immersion fluids, it will provide the market with a powerful solution to maximize data center power efficiency while minimizing data center and carbon footprints.”

“Lubrizol’s immersion cooled ecosystem solution delivers advantages to today’s data center operators ranging from lower energy costs and higher computing densities to longer server life, all through a more sustainable solution than conventional air cooling,” said Matt Joyce, Vice President, Corporate Business Development for Lubrizol. “Our partnership with iXora adds a unique immersive cooling solution to our ecosystem, enabling the market to accelerate the adoption of game-changing immersion technology using today’s infrastructure.”

© 2023 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 a 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 and the Eaton Corporation have announced a collaboration designed to accelerate development of reliable and sustainable turnkey immersion cooling solutions for data centers, AI, edge and far edge computing applications, today and in the future.

“This partnership will leverage Lubrizol’s market-leading CompuZol™ family of patented thermal management immersion fluids, designed and formulated specifically for data centers and related applications, and Eaton’s leadership in the data center market and comprehensive range of products, services, engineering, and manufacturing solutions,” said Matt Joyce, Vice President, Corporate New Business Development for Lubrizol. “Both of our companies are committed to increasing energy efficiencies and offering sustainable solutions for data centers and digital infrastructure.”

“Eaton is committed to support state-of-the-art physical infrastructure solutions which require the next level of cooling, be it high-performance computing in a data center or remote edge computing sites dealing with a harsh environment. Lubrizol’s thermal management fluids are the perfect solution to address these new challenges and facilitate the deployment of modern IT workloads,” said Hervé Tardy, Vice President, Strategy & Marketing for Eaton CPDI.

Globally, traditional, cloud and hyperscale data centers consume an estimated 150 to 200 terawatt hours of electricity annually, with as much as one-third to one-half going to conventional air-cooling and HVAC systems. With most of the world’s electricity still coming from fossil fuel-based generation sources, the need to reduce energy consumption in data centers is compelling.

Cooling servers by immersing them in specially formulated thermal management fluids in advanced server tanks offers a more sustainable approach and superior cooling, along with greater computing density, energy efficiency, longer server life and deployment flexibility. Immersion cooling also makes greater computing power more accessible in regions of the world where standard air-cooled data centers are challenged due to high ambient temperatures or poor air quality.

© 2022 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 a 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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Despite U.S. and China tensions being much in the news, it is not slowing down Berkshire Hathaway’s wholly-owned companies from expanding their manufacturing capacity in China.

Berkshire’s Lubrizol Corporation has opened a new thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) production line at its Songjiang manufacturing site in Shanghai.

According to a company statement, this move is another milestone of Lubrizol Engineered Polymers’ investment in Asia Pacific, expanding the company’s TPU production capacity and strengthening regional business support.

The new line will provide additional TPU production capability for Lubrizol Engineered Polymers, including the ESTANE® TPU portfolio, meeting increasing demands from various markets such as automotive, footwear and electronics.

“The launch of our new TPU line showcases our strong confidence in this market,” said Jane Cai, senior business director APAC of Lubrizol Engineering Polymers. “We are continually investing in production capacity, product development and innovation in Asia, helping us collaborate with our customers, understand their diverse needs and provide tailored solutions that differentiate their products in the market.”

ESTANE TPUs not only improve performance and aesthetics of finished products, but also ultimately help our customers achieve their sustainability goals. In early 2022, Lubrizol’s Songjiang site was certificated by the International Sustainability Carbon Certification (ISCC Plus). The operation of the new TPU line will comply with the requirements to produce ISCC-certified TPUs and signifies the company’s responsible production to reduce environmental impact.

“Sustainability is a critical part of our business’ strategy,” stated Arnau Pano, vice president and general manager, Lubrizol Engineered Polymers. “As a material solutions provider, Lubrizol Engineered Polymers is dedicated to sustainability and delivering innovative and unique products to our end use markets.”

Lubrizol owns and operates more than 100 manufacturing facilities, sales and technical offices around the world, and has approximately 8,600 employees.

© 2022 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 a 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 has named Rebecca Liebert as the company’s President and CEO, effective October 3, 2022.

Interim President and CEO Mary Rhinehart will continue as Board Chair.

Liebert was most recently Executive Vice President of PPG Industries, a global leader in paints, coatings and specialty materials. She joined PPG in June 2018 leading the automotive OEM coatings business, including PPG’s mobility initiatives. Her final responsibilities included PPG’s global industrial segment businesses, Asia Pacific region oversight, and functional responsibility for global procurement, resin and industrial segment manufacturing.

Prior to PPG, Liebert served as President and CEO of Honeywell UOP, a leading international supplier to the petroleum refining, gas processing, petrochemical production and major manufacturing industries. Prior to joining Honeywell, Liebert served as President of Reynolds Food Packaging.

“Rebecca is a dynamic, passionate and results-driven leader,” said Greg Abel, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway’s non-insurance operations. “She brings tremendous experience and a record of accomplishments in leading global organizations and driving operational excellence. Most importantly, she is an individual of the highest integrity – a vital quality for leaders. I thank Mary Rhinehart for her strong interim leadership at Lubrizol and for helping position the company for future growth and success.”

“Rebecca is the right CEO at the right time to lead the company,” said Rhinehart. “I am confident Rebecca has the results-driven and employee- and customer-centric mindset that is critical as we move forward. In addition to her impressive career accomplishments, she is an inspirational leader and innovator who will foster a strong culture, while respecting the legacy and values that make Lubrizol the company it is today.”

“I am proud to be part of an organization with over 90 years of innovation in the areas of technology, societal advancement and sustainability,” Liebert said. “I am also excited to be a member of the team building Lubrizol’s future and look forward to working alongside Lubrizol’s dedicated employees to continue delivering solutions and value for our customers and supporting our communities.”

© 2022 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 a 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.