Idemitsu starts production at second lube blending plant in China

Japanese lubricant manufacturer Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. announced that it has started production at the Huizhou Plant of Huizhou Idemitsu Lube Co., Ltd., the company’s second directly-operated lubricant manufacturing plant in China.

The Huizhou Plant was built through Huizhou Idemitsu Lube Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Idemitsu Kosan, which was established in September 2018, for the purpose of increasing the company’s lubricant supply capacity in order to accommodate the growing demand for high-performance lubricants in China. The annual production capacity of this plant is 120,000 kiloliters (KL).

The start of production at Huizhou Plant increases the Idemitsu Group’s annual lubricant supply capacity in China to a total of 290,000 KL. Idemitsu Group now has three plants in China: the new Huizhou Plant (capacity:120,000 KL),located in South China, the existing Tianjin Plant (capacity:120,000 KL) in North China, and the Changzhou Plant (capacity:50,000 KL) in East China, run by an Idemitsu affiliate Guohong Lube China. 

Through the operation of these three lube blending plants, Idemitsu Kosan will work on the establishment of a stable supply structure and the optimization of finished lubricant supply for the whole of China, which is the world’s largest lubricants market.

Idemitsu Kosan aims to develop and improve its marketing and supply chain in China as part of its vision to expand and place emphasis on its growing lubricants business as a global supplier.

Idemitsu’s first lubricants plant in China began operations in 2004, with the establishment of Tianjin Idemitsu Lubricants Co., Ltd in 2003. (now Idemitsu Lube [China] Co., Ltd.). Since then, it has established subsidiaries in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Changchun, Beijing, and Chongqing in order to build a lubricant sales structure in China. It also opened a development center in Shanghai in October 2018, in order to swiftly develop lubricant products suited to the needs of the Chinese market.