Rowe Minerallwerk GmbH is expanding its lubricants blending production capacity from 25,000 to 60,000 metric tons per year, saying it grew by 12 percent while German lube demand fell 25 percent last year.
Due to the increase of our blending plant capacity, we had to increase the loading/unloading area for tank cars from 200 square meters to 750 square meters, the indoor storage has been increased by several tanks with a total of 600,000 liters and a new storage hall of 800 square meters for finished products will be built in 2010, Rowe shareholder and managing director Michael Zehe told Lube Report. The indoor storage area and the loading/unloading area are already built.
The Donnersbergkreis district government approved the Bubenheim-based lubricant manufacturers permit application last November under the German Federal Air Pollution Control Act.
With the production volume permitted so far, we were meeting our practical limits, said Zehe. The planned capacity extension reflects the positive business trend over the past few years, including in the crisis year 2009.
Zehe noted that the lubricant market in Germany had been more or less stable over the last decade but started to decline at the end of 2008. Customers consider Rowe as a reliable and cost efficient source, which has been leading to an increasing business even in an unstable market, he said. A wide range of products, short delivery times and very flexible order handling is our trademark and the base for our success.
Germanys Federal Office of Economic and Export Control (BAFA) compiles statistics on lubricants demand in the country. According to Zehe, BAFAs statistics showed that the demand for lubricants from January through October 2009 declined in several categories, compared to the year earlier period, with decreases of 16 percent for engine oils, 31.3 percent for hydraulic oils, 27 percent for gear oils and 40 percent for metalworking fluids, both neat and water-miscible. The total consumption of lubricants has dropped by 25.1 percent, whereas Rowe grew by 12 percent, from January through October 2009, compared to the year-earlier period, Zehe continued.
Before the capacity expansion, Rowes production facilities consisted of 22 blending tanks and seven filling lines. In addition to finished product storage space for 0.25 liter cans to 1,000 liter containers, it can draw on storage tanks with a capacity of up to 1,000 metric tons for bulk shipments on road tankers.
Established in 1995, Rowe employs 100. Rowes offerings include motor oils, two-cycle engine oils, gear oils, metalworking oils, antifreeze, greases and a variety of specialty oils, including hydraulic and brake fluids and chain oils.
Besides its domestic business in Germany, Rowe sells its products under the Hightec trade name on the international market through distributors in south and east Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America.