Reported worldwide grease production in 2005 topped 1.9 billion pounds (862 million kilograms), up 1.5 percent from 2004, according to the latest grease production survey released last week by NLGI. Reported production rose smartly in China, Japan, India and the Americas, while it declined in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
According to NLGIs annual production survey for 2005 (reporting global grease production for calendar years 2002 through 2005) the worldwide trend toward higher quality greases continues. In 2005, more than 73 percent of all greases manufactured were lithium soap greases, up from 70 percent in 2002, and polyurea greases inched up to nearly 5 percent of total production last year.
Total reported grease production in North America in 2005 was 544 million pounds. On a comparative basis – that is, only including volumes produced by companies that provided data for each of the past four years – production rose 3 percent over 2004, and a healthy 9.5 percent over 2002. Just one significant category saw a decline: polyurea grease production slipped nearly 6 percent from 2004.
In Europe, reported production totaled 425 million pounds. On a comparative basis, European grease production declined 4 percent from 2004, despite modest increases in polyurea, complex calcium and complex lithium volumes. However, grease production last year was up 13 percent over 2002, a tough year for the industry.
Comparative data is only available for North America and Europe, because data from other regions is insufficient to maintain individual company confidentiality, explained Joseph A. Lurz, Jr., of J&A Consultants, Houston, Texas, who compiles the report for NLGI each year. A total of 146 companies provided data for the 2005 report.
Reported production in the Peoples Republic of China, most likely significantly underreported, totaled 297 million pounds last year. Production of lithium soap greases rose from 73 percent of the total to more than 79 percent from 2003 to 2005, while calcium greases dropped from 21 percent to just 9 percent in the same period.
In Japan, 2005 production exceeded 189 million pounds, up 17 percent from 2004 and nearly 22 percent from 2002. Likewise, grease producers in India and the Indian subcontinent made more than 163 million pounds last year, an increase of 8 percent from 2004 and 21 percent from 2002.
The types of thickeners most commonly used differ significantly by region, the NLGI report shows.
Percentage of total grease by type of thickener
|
Aluminum Soap |
Calcium |
Lithium |
Polyurea |
Other thickeners |
|
| N. America |
9% |
7% |
70% |
6% |
8% |
| Europe |
5% |
15% |
70% |
3% |
7% |
| China |
2% |
9% |
79% |
3% |
7% |
| Japan |
2% |
11% |
60% |
21% |
6% |
| Indian sub-continent |
<1% |
6% |
85% |
0% |
9% |
In a footnote to the report, Lurz estimated that the nine companies that had reported data for 2002 through 2004 but did not respond to the 2005 survey produced a total of 58 million pounds of grease in 2005 – enough to round last years world total to 2 billion pounds.
In addition to the regions cited above, the 22-page NLGI survey report includes details on production in the Caribbean, Central and South America; Africa and the Middle East; and the Pacific and Southeast Asia. For each of the four years in the report, production by region is broken down in detail by type of thickener.
NLGI (formerly the National Lubricating Grease Institute), based in Kansas City, Mo., is offering additional copies of the report for $75 to member companies and $150 to nonmembers. For more information and to order, visit www.NLGI.org and click on NLGI Store. To order, download and print the publications order form.