» hocem base oil newsletter «
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Mr. Albrecht Haase

It is almost tradition – hocem is again gold sponsor of the yearly ICIS World Base Oils Conference taking place in London from 21st February to 22nd February 2008.

We are looking forward to interesting days with market relevant topics, meetings with leading companies and inspiring get - together.

Our company will be represented by the chairmen Mr. Albrecht Haase and Mr. Adalbert Marschalkowski and our London based sales representative Mr. Tomas Giedraitis.

They will be available for you at our hocem Meeting Point near the refreshment area.

Mr. Adalbert Marschalkowski

Those people who do not know us so far can learn more about our company and our Managing Directors on the ICIS conference website under the topic “Companies to Meet”.

There you will get a first impression of our company, our services and our members.

During the last year hocem strengthened its market position and further developed its strategy, efficiency and portfolio.

In April 2007 we opened a sales office in France. Our Director Sales and Logistics Mr. Olivier Laigle is available for requests and product information under office-france@hocem.de.

We are pleased to announce that we entered into a cooperation with company Transnational Blenders B.V. / Gulf Oil Nederland B.V. in Dordrecht.

Starting from 1st January 2008 we are storing our goods at the tank terminal of TNB in Dordrecht. We are acting as supplier of TNB and organizing the supply of our own customers from there. The cooperation with TNB enables us to offer you an upgraded service, prices in the line with the market, advantageous storage of the goods and access to excellent terminal facilities.

Additionally hocem rented new storage capacities at terminal “UkrChem” in Reni, Ukraine and can offer you regular supplies from our shore tanks from terminals in

• Tallinn, Estonia
• Eastham, UK
• Dordrecht, The Netherlands
• Antwerp, Belgium

In 2008 our activities will again be focused on the purchase and the sale of high-class goods. Please get in contact with us at our hocem Meeting Point or via E-Mail office@hocem.de for making an appointment if you are interested in our portfolio.

We are pleased to advise that our partner B&N Baseoils achieved strong growth in 2007 to become a market leader in the UK. The company has been supplying base oils in the UK for over twenty five years, their Managing Director Alan Bell ( Ex Shell ) commented that the growth in 2007 was largely due to being able to supply consistently high quality oil from our stocks at Eastham terminal in the North West, backed up by an excellent delivery service.

He also commented that whilst the last six months had been very stable, the first half of 2008 looks like it will be more volatile with significant price movements and possible shortages. Already we are seeing significant increases in baseoil costs and weakening of the pound which will prove challenges for lubricant blenders throughout the market.

Their Sales Manager Derek Poole ( Ex BP ) can be contacted on his mobile, 07733003246 or you can contact their office on 01565 633365, or by email martinbell@b-nbaseoils.co.uk

The last time we wrote about REACH was in our second newsletter, published in spring 2007, about the main objectives as well as the timing until REACH is fully implemented.

By now we believe most of the players in our industry are aware of the impacts REACH will pose and consequently have formed task forces, improved communications up and down the supply chain and evaluated the approximate costs for the registration process.

Still there is a great amount of uncertainty and various questions are subject to continued discussions such as

• which substances could be possibly withdrawn due to the registration
  cost factor
• how to clearly identify substances to avoid implications for the continued use
• is my supplier going to pre-register or do I have to deal with an only
  representative and if so do I still register to warrant my options
• what about my intellectual property when it comes to data sharing

These are only some questions out of many since REACH is very complex.

As the pre-registration process will take place very soon here below you will see main aspects of pre-registration. We also take a quick look at what happens shortly after the pre-registration deadline.

If you fail to pre-register your substance(s) within the period above, you will not be able to participate in Substances Information Exchange Forums (SIEFs) and should proceed to the registration phase with no additional delays in regard of the applicable deadlines based on substance tonnage bands and properties.

Depending on the pre-registered substances nature and volumes put on the market, qualified pre-registered substances are benefiting transitional periods that range from 2 to 10 years (2008-2018) to fulfil the registration process.

Who shall pre-register?

• Manufacturer of chemical substances
• Importer of chemical substances
• Chemicals Formulator
• Importer of Articles (substances to be released Art. 7.1)
• Producer of Articles (substances to be released Art 7.1)
• Only Representatives (legal proxies of foreign manufacturers)

What information you need to pre-register?

• Substance name incl. CAS/EINECS No’s or similar identification codes
• Full registrant details or nominated 3rd party representative
• Applicable deadline for registration
• If you wish, for similar substances name and identification

How to pre-register?

• Pre-registration dossiers should be sent to Agency (ECHA) through IUCLID 5
  system (IUCLID 5: International Uniform Chemical Information Database 5 is
  a newly developed software application to facilitate the creation of dossiers
  to comply with the data requirements of REACH The IUCLID 5 software can
  be obtained now free of charge from the http://iuclid.eu server.
  Before downloading you will be requested to sign up).

So far so good.
Knowing now who, what information and how and to pre-register each company should verify its current position before pre-registration process takes place in respect of

• what is my position within the supply chain
• identifying the substances your company needs to pre-register or
• identifying the substances you want your supplier to pre-register
  in order not to be withdrawn from your supply chain.
• identifying alternative substances for those vulnerable to withdrawal
• developing an inventory of your substances and their supply chain

Each company is differently positioned depending whether they are manufacturers, importers or downstream user and so is the action they will take and the questions they have respectively.

The European Commission has funded number of projects known as RIPs (REACH Implementation Projects). RIPs are intended to guide companies to understand what is expected to ensure compliance. Of particular interest to the industry is RIP 3. Divided into many subsections it will provide detailed guidance. Please see http://ecb.jrc.it/REACH/RIP/

Another tool is the NAVIGATOR, developed by the ECHA and is meant to guide you through the thousands of pages of guidance. The navigator will guide you to your obligation on a given substance based on the answer the user gives to the questions of the navigator. Please see http://reach.jrc.it/navigator_en.htm

In addition national helpdesks were established to answer your questions.
Please see http://echa.europa.eu/reach/helpdesk_en.htm

The first registration deadline is only two years after the end of the pre-registration period for the following phase in substances in quantities

• > 1000 t/a by December 1st, 2010
• > 100 t/a (R50/53) by December 1st, 2010
• > 1 t/a Category 1 or 2 CMR’s by December 1st, 2010

By December 31st, 2008 ECHA will publish on its website a data base of all pre-registered phase-in substances. All pre-registrants of the same substance will participate in SIEFs (Substance Information Exchange Forum) to coordinate and agree on existing data, co-operate on new studies to avoid duplicate testing especially those on animals.

Read more on REACH in the next hocem newsletter.

Mr. Albrecht Haase

Стало почти традицией, что hocem постоянно выступает в качестве золотого спонсора ежегодной всемирной конференции ICIS по базовым маслам, которая на этот раз состоится в Лондоне с 21-го по 22-ое февраля 2008 г.

Мы ожидаем от нее плодотворно проведенных дней, посвященных обсуждению насущных вопросов рынка, встреч с ведущими компаниями и неформальных встреч, поднимающих настроение.

Нашу компанию будет представлять председатель г-н Альбрехт Хаазе и г-н Адальберт Маршалковски, а также наш торговый представитель в Лондоне г-н Томас Гидрайтис.

Mr. Adalbert Marschalkowski

Их можно будет найти в нашем месте встречи hocem около буфета.

Те, кто не знает нас, могут познакомиться с нашей компанией и с нашими директорами-распорядителями на сайте конференции ICIS в Интернете по адресу www.icis.com под заголовком “Компании, с которыми надо встретиться”. Там Вы сможете получить первое представление о нашей компании, предоставляемых нами услугах и наших акционерах.