Repsol has begun producing lubricants in China and Malaysia, as a result of its agreement reached last November with Malaysian conglomerate UMW Group.
The lubricants will be distributed throughout China and Malaysia, along with other countries in the region, including Singapore, Brunei, Papua New Guinea and Myanmar. By the end of the five-year agreement, Repsol expects to achieve a sales volume of more than 20,000 tons per year of lubricants, equivalent to more than 25 percent of Repsols annual sales of these products in Spain.
UMWs China blending plant is in Guangdong, and its Malaysia plant is in Kuala Lumpur, according to Madrid, Spain-based Repsol. The plants are not new, and one of them is the recently-opened Guandong Province one, Repsol spokesman Kristian Rix told Lube Report. Products are packaged in 209, 20 and 4 liter drums.
Repsol previously said it anticipates significant growth in automotive and motorcycle lubricants demand in the Malaysia and China markets.
The company markets its lubricants directly and through distributors in more than 60 countries.
Repsol has two base oil refineries: a 2,100 barrels per day API Group I plant in Puertollano, Spain, and a 2,650 b/d plant, primarily Group I, in Cartagena. In June 2010, SK Lubricants of Seoul, South Korea, announced plans to partner with Repsol YPF to build a 13,300 b/d Group III base oil plant at Repsols Cartagena, Spain, refinery. It is scheduled to begin production in 2013.