Due to increasing costs from upstream suppliers, China's three lubricant giants have increased their prices in March, China Business News reports. Sinopec's Great Wall Lubricant adjusted prices on lubricants across the board once in January and twice in February before the latest adjustment on 6 March. The latest increases range from 5% on hydraulic lubricant to 7.9% on gear lubricant. One Sinopec Lubricant sales representative said that the price increases this year are roughly 10%; last year during the same period, three price increases totaled just 5%. Lubricant inventories are also running low, according to an oil dealer in Shanghai.PetroChina's lubricants will increase in price roughly 6% on 12 March, compared with a 3% increase in 2005. The increase comes despite PetroChina investment in more conveniently accessible facilities that drop shipping prices from 2 yuan per 4 liter bottle to just 0.4 yuan. Beijing Tongyi Petroleum Chemical (known as Monarch) adjusted prices twice in February, for a total of 10% to 15%, and would not rule out a possibility of further increases. Monarch's supply prices are higher than Sinopec's and PetroChina's, since its oil comes primarily from Korean imports. An industry analyst cited in CBN said that if Monarch adjusts prices again, the total increase this year could reach 25%.Link: http://dycj.ynet.com/article.jsp?oid=7961903