Petronas to expand lubricant production in Brazil

Petronas Lubrificantes Brasil, a subsidiary of Malaysia’s Petronas Lubricants International (PLI), will expand lubricant blending capacity at its existing plant in Contagem, Brazil, located in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais.

PLI is the global lubricants manufacturing and marketing arm of Malaysia’s state-owned Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas). It owns 11 lubricant blending plants around the world, with a combined production capacity of 615,000 metric tonnes per annum.

The Contagem plant currently has a production capacity of 220 million litres per year, of which 15% are exported to other Latin American markets, except Argentina where Petronas operates another lubricant blending plant. The expansion is expected to be completed by 2016.

According to Guilherme de Paula, PLI’s regional head for Latin America, this decision is part of the company’s strategy for the region. PLI also operates a lubricant blending plant in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A new USD 30 million plant will also be built in Argentina, which should be operational by 2017.