A chemical company from the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan says it will build a lubricant additive factory in Ufa, the region’s capital, to offset the country’s shortage of such chemicals.
The Ufa Plant for Experimental and Chemical Products has pledged to invest 150 million rubles (approximately U.S. $1.6 million) to construct a plant capable of producing 1,000 metric tons of lube additives per year, according to a recent news release by the republic’s Ministry for Land and Property Affairs.
The ministry said the investor will be granted a 7.5-hectare plot in the northern part of Ufa through a simplified procedure, without tender, due to its plans to produce lubricant additives “analogous to the imported production.”
The complex will feature 20,000 square meters of administrative and production facilities, a lab and several warehouses, employing a workforce of 30. The plant’s first stage of operation will not begin until 2026, and the owners aim to achieve its nominal capacity by 2029.
Established in 2006, the Ufa company’s objective is to expand its scope of products to include lubricant additives.
Industry observers note that prior to 2022, around 90% of the Russian lubricant additive market was supplied by foreign chemical companies such as Infineum or Lubrizol. All major Western lube additive suppliers exited Russia in 2022 to protest its invasion of Ukraine. Numerous foreign lubricant suppliers also left the market.
Russian lube marketer Lukoil recently broke ground on a lubricant additive plant in Volgograd, and several smaller players have opened or are building lubricant blending operations in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and the regions surrounding Moscow, such as the heavily industrialized Kaluga region.
All of these players hope to capture a portion of the lucrative market once held by the products of Shell, Total, ExxonMobil, as well as those of the big four additive makers – Lubrizol, Infineum, Chevron Oronite and Afton Chemical.