Indonesias state-owned PT Pertamina Lubricants began using Thailand as a launching point for expansion in China and Indochina. It also recently forayed into Egypt and announced plans to explore opportunities in Africa, the South Pacific, the Indian subcontinent and other regions.
To date, we have expanded to 14 countries and have 16 lubricant distributors overseas, Arifun Dhalia, Pertaminas vice president of overseas sales and marketing, said in a press release last week. After meeting at the Trade Expo Indonesia 2017 last week with foreign trade attachs from Papua New Guinea, India, Malaysia, Cameroon, Singapore, Afghanistan, Nigeriaand many more countries, he added that now, Pertaminas opportunities will be wider and penetration will be more intense.
Last month, the company exported its first batch of viscosity modifiers to Thailand, according to a company spokesman. Its viscosity modifier, branded as Protecto, is a formulation of additives and base oils blended at its facility in Tanjung Priok, Jakarta. The viscosity modifiers are used to produce Fastron-[branded motor oils] and other automotive and industrial lubricants produced by Pertamina Lubricants Thailand Co., the spokesman continued. In this way, we dont need to import viscosity modifiers from other sources.
With a stable supply of viscosity modifiers for its Thailand plant, Pertamina said it is better able to serve Thailand and the rest of Indochina (which also includes Myanmar, Laos,Cambodia andVietnam) and China. Pertaminas sister company, Pertamina Lubricants Thailand Co., will produce and market all the companys products sold in those regions, the spokesman added.
Lube export tariffs, along with other nontariff trade barriers and policies, make trade from Indonesia to China and Indochina less favorable than trade from Thailand, the spokesman added. Also, road networks will make Thai exports logistically more efficient and effective.
Earlier this month, Pertamina Lubricants signed a contract to supply lubricants to Egyptian company, Ashrafco, for distribution throughout the country. The company also started supplying industrial lubricants for cement, plywood and transportation sectors in Vietnam.
Pertamina Lubricants currently has three blending plants in Indonesia, along with the facility in Thailand, with total capacity of more than 415,000 metric tons per year.
Pertamina Lubricants claimed last year that it supplied up to 60 percent of the Indonesian lubricants market.
Photo: PT Pertamina Lubricants
