LLK-International plans a U.S. $2.5 million upgrade to its 30,000 tons per year blending plant in Romania, while promoting its flagship motor oil brand on the European market, the company said.
LLK, the lube arm of the Russian oil major Lukoil, last year invested U.S. $3.5 million in the blending plant at the Petrotel-Lukoil fuel refinery in Ploiest, Romania. The refinery is a fully owned subsidiary of Lukoil. The plant, which can make up to 120 types of lubes, opened earlier last year. Once upgraded, it will be able to produce a full range of products marketed under the Genesis brand, according to the company.
We are committed to the European market. But there is a [widely accepted] myth associated with being a Russian company about not having the latest technology, Michael Weis,LLK’s general manager for Eastern Europe, told Lube Report. This is absolutely not true, and we want to use the launch of Genesis to show our custumers that we are a modern enterprise.
The company now is introducing two key products, Genesis Premium SAE 5W-40 and 5W-30 grades. We are investing in fully automated blending and filing equipment, as well as in storage capacities. In fact, we are making a state-of-the-art blending plant, Weis said. Once the upgrade is complete at the end of this year or early next year the production of a full range [of products] will commence, he said, adding that this is an opportunity for LLK to reach out to more European costumers.
The company markets more than 500 different brands of lubes and greases. In 2011, LLK sold 220,000 tons of packaged lubricants, or 4.5 percent more than it did in 2010. It sells finished products in 35 countries, and last year its finished products exports soared 23 percent, compared to the previous year. It operates four blending and base oil plants in Russia and three blending plants in Finland, Romania and Turkey.
Lukoil holds a 40 percent share of Russias lubricants market, and in 2011 produced 1.2 million tons of base oils and lubricants.