ExxonMobil has reached an agreement for its base stocks to be distributed in South China by EMB, a joint venture that already performs similar functions for the energy giant in Australia and Malaysia.
United States-based ExxonMobil already supplies base stocks to North China through a terminal in Taicang, a Jiangsu province port city on the Yangzte River.
In a March 24 news release, ExxonMobil said EMB will supply lubricant manufacturing customers mainly in the provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangxi and Hainan. The operation will be based in Dongguan, a manufacturing hub with a medium-sized port on the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong.
EMB is a joint venture between Quality Logistics Service Australia and Singapore-based petroleum products distributor SBC Petrochemical Ptd. The joint venture has distributed ExxonMobil base stocks in Australia since 2011 and in Malaysia since 2020.
ExxonMobil said it supplies API Group I and II base oils through both of its China operations.
China has a very large surplus of base oil production capacity – mostly in Group II – after a 15-year surge in expansions and new plant construction made it the world’s top-ranked nation for base oil supply base.