Lubrizol

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U.S. chemical company

title: "Lubrizol" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["companies-based-in-cleveland", "chemical-companies-established-in-1928", "chemical-companies-of-the-united-states", "berkshire-hathaway", "1928-establishments-in-ohio", "2011-mergers-and-acquisitions", "companies-formerly-listed-on-the-new-york-stock-exchange"] description: "U.S. chemical company" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubrizol" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary U.S. chemical company ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

Field	Value
name	Lubrizol Corporation
logo	Lubrizol Logo 2017.png
type	Subsidiary
foundation
location_city	Wickliffe, Ohio
location_country	United States
key_people	Rebecca Liebert (president and CEO)
industry	Chemicals
products	Specialty chemicals
revenue	Approximately $6.5 billion (2016)
owner	Berkshire Hathaway
num_employees	Approximately 7,000+
divisions	Lubrizol Additives
Lubrizol Surface Sciences
Lubrizol Engineered Materials
homepage
footnotes
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Lubrizol Corporation is a global provider of specialty chemicals for the transportation, industrial and consumer markets. These products include additives for engine oils and other transportation-related fluids, additives for industrial lubricants, and additives for gasoline and diesel fuel. In addition, Lubrizol makes ingredients and additives for personal care products, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, specialty materials, including plastics technology, and coatings in the form of specialty resins and additives.

Since 2011, Lubrizol has been a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. It generated $6.5 billion in revenue in 2016 and has an employee headcount of approximately 8,300 people globally.

History

The Lubrizol Corporation was founded in 1928 as The Graphite Oil Products Company in Cleveland, Ohio, by father Frank A. Nason and son Francis A. "Alex" Nason, Thomas W. James and brothers Kent H. Smith, Vincent K. Smith and A. Kelvin Smith. The company's first product was a graphite lubricant and applicator for early automobiles. In 1929, the company changed its name to The Lubri-Graph Corporation. It moved to Wickliffe, Ohio in 1931.

The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in the 1960s. Toward the end of that decade, Lubrizol focused on developing products to help make cars cleaner and more fuel efficient. During the 1980s, the company created new additives for passenger motor oils, gear oils, hydraulic fluids and viscosity modifiers, while also eyeing biotechnology, agribusiness and specialty chemicals for other applications to expand beyond the transportation field.

Lubrizol acquired Noveon International in 2004 for 920 million in cash and the assumption of 920 million in debt. That move, along with others, helped Lubrizol expand beyond its additives business and create a second business segment, Lubrizol Advanced Materials, producing industrial chemicals for packaging, paints and textiles, chemicals for personal-care products such as lotions and shampoos, and additives and ingredients for engineered polymers, in addition to products for the medical devices and pharmaceutical markets.

Berkshire Hathaway announced on March 14, 2011, that it would acquire Lubrizol for 9.7 billion in cash. This occurred just weeks after a top Berkshire executive, David Sokol, made a major bet on the stock price with his own money. Sokol resigned from Berkshire Hathaway shortly after this disclosure. That deal closed in September 2011. In December 2014, Lubrizol bought Weatherford International's engineered chemistry and drilling fluids businesses in a deal valued at 825 million. This resulted in creation of the company's third business segment, Lubrizol Oilfield Solutions.

The company announced in February 2017 that it shut down its Oilfield Operations business segment after posting $365 million in losses.

Lubrizol's expansion in other areas of business in the 2000s included a 10-year phased investment plan launched in 2010. The plan, which sought to increase global capacity in additives, featured a plant in Zhuhai, China, among others. Additionally, the company expanded its life sciences unit with the announcement of a $60 million investment to expand its excipient, global polymer and contract manufacturing plants. The new facilities are expected to provide a flow through process for customers. Lubrizol took the majority stake in Lubrizol India Private Ltd., its Indian joint venture with Indian Oil Corp., in March 2017.

In April 2020, the company asked for Section 301 tariff relief for glutaraldehyde, which had 25% tariffs due to Trump's 2018 China–United States trade war. The company's relief application said it could be helpful as a disinfectant against COVID-19. The application made no mention of its use for fracking or the company's primary market being the oil industry.

Operations

The Lubrizol Corporation is broken down into two business segments, Lubrizol Additives and Lubrizol Advanced Materials.

Lubrizol Additives

With Lubrizol Additives, the company supplies additives for transportation, including additives for lubricating engine oils, fuels and other chemicals, and industrial lubricants.

Lubrizol Advanced Materials

Lubrizol Advanced Materials creates and sells specialty materials and chemicals used in consumer products for personal care, pharmaceutical and food industries; specialty materials under the Carbopol, TempRite, Hycar and Estane trademarks; and performance coatings under the trademarks Hycar, Sancure, Algan, Performax and Myflam.

Lubrizol had operated Lubrizol Oilfield Solutions, an oilfield chemicals and drilling fluids business, following the 2014 acquisition of Weatherford International businesses. Bloomberg reported in February 2017 that Lubrizol eliminated the oilfield solutions business segment.

Industrial accidents

On June 14, 2021, the company's Chemtool manufacturing plant in Rockton, IL suffered a large explosion and fire. A one-mile evacuation zone was established as fire agencies worked to contain the fire.

Sites in and around Rouen (France) have been the site of numerous industrial incidents:

See :fr:Incendie de l'usine Lubrizol à Rouen
In 1975 and 1989, two incidents (similar to the one that occurred in 2013) resulted in the emission of mercaptans.
On April 16, 2003, a fire damaged the facilities of the Oudalle factory without causing any casualties.
On January 21, 2013, an incident occurred at the Lubrizol plant located in Rouen (Seine-Maritime): the chemical decomposition of a zinc dialkyldithiophosphate (ZDDP) tank resulted in the emission of a cloud of gas composed of a cocktail of mercaptans (probably dominated by isopropyl mercaptan), whose odor was perceptible far beyond the Rouen site by several hundred thousand people, the plume from south of London to the Paris region ("Complaints of local residents citing bad smells, headaches or nausea were thus collected by the poison and toxicovigilance centers (CAPTV) and Air normand between 21 and 22 January). The hazard study had modeled the risk of decomposition of zinc dialkyldithiophosphate, a risk also taken into account in the development of the PPRT: according to this modeling, H2S can be emitted (highly toxic with fatal or irreversible effects beyond certain thresholds, thresholds not reached in the environment during the event of 21 January). This decomposition is also a source of large quantities of mercaptans, gases known to be not very toxic but whose olfactory threshold is very low (10,000 times lower than the concentrations reached in the air that day). The genes or headaches related to this type of event have not been integrated in the PPRT, but must be included in emergency plans (PPI ...). After analyzing the accident, corrective measures were submitted to CODERST (May 2013) and then imposed on the factory via a prefectural order (June 2013). These measures are: better monitoring of the temperature of the adjustment tanks, new automatic safety systems, an analysis of the stirring and refrigeration needs of the tanks (decalcification, new refrigeration means, etc.), new monitoring tools process, manufacturing and alarm, an improved process of response in case of decomposition, improvement of the measurement system of mercaptans in the stack and finally the resizing of the system treating releases to the air in case of decomposition. The implementation of these measures was verified by the DREAL on June 11 and 12, 2013. The invisible but fragrant plume of mercaptans was retrospectively modeled (publication 2015).
On September 26, 2019, a fire broke out at the Lubrizol plant in Oudalle, near Le Havre (Seine-Maritime). 50 firefighters and 12 vehicles were mobilized.
On September 26, 2019, explosions and a fire (major accident) impacted the company's manufacturing site in Rouen, France, in addition to a neighboring site. 240 firefighters and 200 vehicles were mobilized, including some from Paris. The authorities ordered the evacuation of the population within a radius of 500 meters around the factory, closed schools of the surrounding municipalities, and later recommended not having direct contact with the soot or eating the crops and food products exposed to it. The company created a public web page to share more on this event.

Acquisitions and partnerships

Lubrizol has grown its business through a number of acquisitions and partnerships in recent years. Among them:

Diamond Dispersions (2016), maker of water-based dye and pigment dispersions
Particle Sciences (2015), a drug developer
EcoQuimica (2015), maker of coatings
Warwick Chemicals (2015), formerly produced stain-removal technologies. Closed in 2021, seven years after its acquisition in 2014.
Alliance with Mitsui Chemicals (2014) for Lubrizol to sell and market the Lucant polymer product line
Weatherford International's engineered chemistry and drilling fluids businesses (2014)
Vesta (2014), maker of catheters and tubing
Lipotec (2012), a skin care products maker
Active Organics (2011), a specialty chemicals firm
Chemtool (2011), maker of custom-formulated greases
Merquinsa (2011), a maker of thermoplastic polyurethane
Nalco Company's Nalco Performance Products Group (2011), a personal care and household care specialty polymers and formulation additives business
Dow Chemical Co.'s thermoplastic polyurethane business (2008)
Metalworking additives from Lockhart Chemical Co. (2007)
Noveon (2004), producer of industrial chemicals for packaging, paints and textiles, as well as chemicals for personal-care products such as lotions and shampoos

References

(2016). "Top workplaces". [[The Plain Dealer]].
(14 March 2011). "Buffett bets on emerging markets with Lubrizol buy". [[Reuters]].
(2 June 2016). "Lubrizol names next CEO". IHS Chemical Week.
Scott, Mark. (2017-08-01). "Lubrizol uses chemistry to change the world. Eric R. Schnur wants to take that to the next level.". Smart Business.
"The Lubrizol Corporation".
Calvin H. Smalheer. (1972). "The Story of Lubrizol". The Lubrizol Corporation.
(14 March 2011). "Who are Lubrizol?". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
"Lubrizol Corp. – The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.
Lawrence A. Cunningham. (2014). "Berkshire Beyond Buffett: The Enduring Value of Values". [[Columbia University Press]].
(17 April 2004). "Company news: Lubrizol will buy Noveon for $920 million in cash". [[The New York Times]].
Jack W. Plunkett. (2008). "Plunkett's Chemicals, Coatings & Plastics Industry Almanac 2009". Plunkett Research.
(24 February 2016). "Acquisitions lead Lubrizol to expanded offerings". Plastics News.
(2011-03-15). "Wall Street down but resilient on Japan crisis". [[The Herald and Weekly Times]].
(14 March 2011). "Berkshire Hathaway in $9bn Lubrizol deal". [[Financial Times]].
(30 March 2011). "David Sokol: Timeline of His Lubrizol Stock Purchases". The Wall Street Journal.
(16 September 2011). "Berkshire Hathaway closes on $9 billion deal for Lubrizol Corp. of Wickliffe".
(1 December 2014). "Lubrizol to shell out $825M for Weatherford businesses". [[Law360]].
(27 February 2017). "Berkshire's Lubrizol took $365 million loss on oilfield business".
(21 August 2013). "Lubrizol opens big additives plant in China". [[Crain Communications]].
(7 June 2017). "Lubrizol Corp. is investing $60 million in its LifeSciences business". Crain Publishing.
(21 March 2017). "Lubrizol Corp. to take majority stake in Indian joint venture". [[Crain Communications]].
Lydia DePillis. (25 June 2020). "Oyster, Air Fryer and Bicycle Companies Say Their Goods Are Essential to Fighting Coronavirus So They Can Get Tariff Relief". ProPublica.
(2 April 2020). "Comment from Paul Lewis". Regulations.gov.
"Company overview of The Lubrizol Corporation". [[Bloomberg L.P..
"Company overview of Lubrizol Advanced Materials, Inc.". [[Bloomberg L.P..
(14 June 2021). "Firefighter injured, mandatory evacuation in Rockton from fire at Chemtool facility". NBC News local affiliate.
(2019-10-02). "Rouen chemical factory fire 'leaves our children in danger'". [[BBC News]].
(2019-10-05). "Amid the ashes of the Lubrizol fire in Rouen, anger and anxiety".
(September 18, 2020). "Fire at Lubrizol Rouen Plant – Latest News".
(4 May 2021). "Lubrizol teams with Advonex on beauty ingredient alternative to silicone, petrolatum, and mineral oil". CosmeticDesigns.
(6 July 2016). "Lubrizol acquires Diamond Dispersions". Coatings World.
(14 September 2015). "Particle Sciences goes to Lubrizol". Chemical & Engineering News.
(6 January 2015). "Lubrizol closes acquisition of Warwick Chemicals, Weatherford businesses". Processing Magazine.
(2 December 2014). "Lubrizol announces Warwick Chemicals acquisition, Mitsui Chemicals alliance". Processing Magazine.
(8 August 2014). "Lubrizol buys medical extruder Vesta". Plastics News.
(20 June 2012). "Berkshire Hathaway's Lubrizol buys Spanish firm Lipotec".
(13 December 2011). "Lubrizol agrees to acquire Active Organics". Cosmetics & Toiletries.
Pooja Kondhia. (13 December 2011). "Lubrizol acquires specialty chemicals firm Active Organics". Cosmeticsdesign.com.
(9 November 2011). "Lubrizol Corp. agrees to acquire Chemtool Inc.". [[Crain Communications]].
(3 November 2011). "Lubrizol acquires Merquinsa creating a TPU titan". Plastics Today.
Katie Schaefer. (27 January 2011). "Lubrizol/Noveon acquires Nalco's personal care business". Cosmetics & Toiletries.
(5 January 2009). "Lubrizol acquires Dow termoplastics unit". IndustryWeek.
(March 2007). "Lubrizol announces metalworking acquisition". Tribology & Lubrication Technology.

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