Often you will find that newly manufactured cast-iron cookware is coated by the manufacturer with some kind of grease, etc., to keep the cookware from rusting while being shipped if it's exposed to dampness
en route. New stuff should be washed and dried before seasoning.
I do agree that the cooking surfaces of Lodge DO's should be finished much more smoothly. I have been dissapointed about that. We have a number of DO's at our Scout camp that are finished properly, but they have no manufacturer's marks and they are so old no one knows where they were bought.
We had a campout at our local Scout camp where we invited a bunch of Webelos Scouts and their parents. We roasted a dozen chickens, one per DO, and had all 12 going at the same time. Lit up 40 pounds of charcoal to do it. Very impressive.
In this case, the grill of the hibachi was coated with the usual vegetable-based stuff that came off before being properly seasoned. The BASE of the Hibachi, though, was coated in the nastiest, foulest stuff that smoked like an old Chevy truck when it had fire in it. I don't know what it was, but I couldn't even tell it was there because it was the color of cast iron, and dry to the touch. I sold the damn thing in a garage sale.
I guess that's what I get for taking most of my good cast iron to the wrong hunting camp one time...