Marine lubricants supplier TOTAL Lubmarine has outlined its position concerning increasing raw material costs and growing shortages of marine lubricants. Andrew Knox, Head of Marketing at TOTAL Lubmarine, says, "Recent events have shown how tight the worldwide situation is. This is due to a long historical period of low and decreasing margins which have discouraged the industry from investing. "With the 2004 and 2005 increases in crude oil and lubricant raw material market prices, industry profitability has worsened, and the incredible acceleration in cost increases in recent months puts the industry in an unprecedented position of vulnerability. Since July, base oil price costs have increased by between 24 and 35 percent.