Pertamina, Indonesias national oil company, announced on Nov. 8 that it will begin exporting lubricants to Switzerland and South Africa. The company also recently outlined plans to spin off its lubricant business unit as a subsidiary.
Switzerland and South Africa are the 23rd and 24th export destination countries for Pertamina lubricants, Ali Mundakir, vice president of corporate communications, said in a statement. The inaugural export to Europe and Africa shows that Pertamina lubricants are getting more recognition and acceptance in the global market.
The company is partnering with Indonaldini Group Swiss – SA to develop marketing plans for packaged lubricants in Europe, with Switzerland as the firsts target. The initial 32,000-liter export of Pertaminas products will be automotive lubricants – Fastron Series, Prima XP and Mesran brands – in two containers sent through Genoa, Italy. Fastron lubricants are made from API Group III base oil. The SK-Pertamina joint venture base oil plant in Dumai, Indonesia, has a 7,000 b/d Group III capacity.
We will add more export product variants step by a step and will soon move to industrial lubricants and marine lubricants, Mundakir said.
According to Pertamina, the European lubricants market has the potential to reach 5.2 million kiloliters per year, with automotive lubricants accounting for 46 percent of demand. Industrial, marine and mining lubricants account for the rest.
The company said it also sees substantial market potential in Africa. In South Africa, Pertamina will work with National Plasterer Group to introduce the lubricant products in Cape Town and western South Africa.
For the initial phase in South Africa, Pertamina will ship a 12,000 liter container of products, including Fastron synthetic products, Mesran and Meditran SX 15W-40-based diesel lubricants. The penetration to South African market will be the leverage in developing the market in other African regions, Mundakir said.
According to Pertamina, Africas lubricant market experiences 2.6 percent annual demand growth and has a current market potential of 1.8 million kiloliters per year. The countries in the region with the most lubricants consumption include Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria and Egypt, the company noted.
With the spin off, the company said its Pertamina Lubricants subsidiary is expected to maintain a 60 percent domestic market share in Indonesia and to become a world top 20 lubricants company by 2015 with total sales volume of 700,000 kiloliters per year.