Sinopec said it will start developing Great Wall-branded lubes and greases for use in high-tech industries such as robotics, high-speed railways and wind power generation.
Chinas largest lubricants producer, Sinopec Lubricant Co., announced its plan to focus on highly-refined greases at last week, according to a statement posted on the companys Weibo account.
Our strength in research and development allows us to meet the demand in Chinas high value-added manufacturing industries, and we will continue to enrich our product lines and expand our capacity to support the development of these industries, said Wu Baojie, vice dean of Sinopecs grease research institute in Tianjin.
Sinopec, whose major grease manufacturing bases are located in Tianjin, Chongqing and Maoming, added a facility in Tianjin in 2014 to produce highly-refined greases primarily for bearing manufacturers. The capacity of the facility is 5,000 metric tons per year.
Sinopecs Tianjin location, with capacity to produce 100,000 t/y, is Asias largest grease manufacturing facility, according to Sinopec.
Wu said the move is in accordance with the nations Made in China 2025 initiative, which the Chinese government introduced last year as a way to help shake off its reputation as the worlds largest low-tech, labor-intensive industrial market. The plan uses mandates, subsidiaries and other strategies to influence companies to upgrade manufacturing facilities.
The policy will most likely result in more advanced industrial equipment and technologies throughout the country, which require high-quality specialty greases, a spokesman at Xinya Petrochemical told Lube Report Asia earlier this month.
Representives from the China Bearing Industry Association, the Lubricating Grease Committee of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association, and the Institute of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering of Soochow University attended the conference, with some experts noting that there is clear demand for high-end products in the China’s grease market.