GS Caltex has signed a deal with Samsung C&T to jointly enter the Chinese industrial lubricants market, a GS Caltex official confirmed to Lube Report.
The two South Korean companies plan to push for the business to sell industrial lubricants to Chinese companies in the steel, textile and chemical sectors via the five vendors of Samsung C&T in China, Seog Joo Kang, team leader of GS Caltexs lubricant business planning team, told Lube Report.
In August, GS Caltex signed a similar agreement with Hankook Tire Co., South Koreas largest tire maker, that focuses on Chinas automotive lubricants market.
In a Nov. 23 statement, GS Caltex estimated the Chinese lubricant market at 12 trillion South Korean won (U.S. $10.6 billion), making it the worlds second largest behind the United States. Automotive lubricants make up 64 percent of the Chinese market, GS Caltex said, while industrial lubricants account for 34 percent.
GS Caltex further noted that with the deal with Samsung C&T, it will expand the ratio of its lubricant exports to domestic sales from its current 20 percent up to 50 percent.
Samsung C&T Corp. is a major Korean trading and construction company.
A 50-50 joint venture of Chevron and GS Holdings, GS Caltex has a 17,000 b/d Group II/III plant in Yeosu, South Korea. In February, GS Caltex said it was investing 3 billion South Korean won (U.S. $2.6 million) to launch a finished lubricants business in India, as part of an effort to create new export markets for its products.