Nippon Oil imports base oils from Singapore

Japan’s Nippon Oil Corp. will import base oils from Singapore to help it keep pace with rapidly growing sales of lubricating oils in China. The company plans to purchase 6,000 kiloliters of base oil through the end of October. With the exception of emergencies, this markts the first time the company will be importing base oils. Nippon Oil produced 750,000 kiloliters of base oils domestically in fiscal 2006 and sold 963,000 kiloliters of lubricating oils. Lubricating-oil sales are declining in Japan, but climbing overseas, particularly in China as Japanese automakers expand production there. Nippon Oil shipped 33,000 kiloliters of lubricating oils to China in fiscal 2006, up 75% from the previous year, and expects similar growth this fiscal year. (August 23, 2007)