Sinopec Lubricants will expand lubricant production, logistics and marketing channels for overseas sales, especially in Asia, officials said this week.
In a press release issued Thursday, following a gathering for business partners that the company organized in Singapore, officials said overseas sales have grown steadily over the past several years to 124,000 metric tons in 2017. The company aims to continue that trend by expanding the number of countries it sells into, and becoming more of a lubricant marketer in those areas, rather than just a supplier for Chinese original equipment manufacturers.
Photo: Then Chih Wey Xinhua News Agency/Newscom
Sinopec opened its Singapore blending plant in 2013 to make lubricants for overseas sales.
As China has gradually become the center of global manufacturing, the rapid growth of overseas exports of Made in China machinery and equipment has created new opportunities for Sinopec lubricants to enter the international market, said Kou Jianchao, vice president of Sinopec Lubricants Co.
The press release, issued following an event dubbed the Sinopec Lubricants International Partner Conference, said the companys overseas lubricants sales grew from 14,000 tons in 2007 to 124,000 tons in 2017, and that last year was the fourth in a row that the volume increased more than 20 percent. The company also claimed it is now the worlds fourth-largest lubricant supplier.
Like other Chinese lubricant suppliers, Sinopec traditionally focused on the domestic market. In 2013, however, the company opened a Singapore blending plant built specifically to produce lubes that would be sold in foreign countries.
Until now, Sinopecs overseas lubricant business has been largely based on supply agreements with equipment manufacturers that were likewise venturing into foreign markets. Officials said the business is now entering a new phase that will focus more on marketing more broadly to lubricant end users.
Sinopec Lubricants Co. will continue its efforts to promote the transition fromtrading to marketing and accelerating the deployment oflubricant production, logistics and sales systems, Kou said. He added that parent company Sinopec wants to become a globally competitive energy and chemical company and considers its lubricants business an important part of that strategy.
The press release added that the lubes business will first focus its overseas efforts in Asia, where lubricant demand is growing and where lubricant quality is rising. Later the company plans to develop more outlets in Europe and the Americas.
Sinopecs lubricant business currently has nine overseas offices.