South Korea's SK Lubricants to enter Europe


SK Lubricants and Repsol have completed a plant in Spain.

ILBOC joint venture between SK Lubricants and Repsol

ILBOC plant in southeastern Spain Image: SK Lubricants

The new base oil plant, in Cartagena, has been built by ILBOC, the first joint venture between the Spain's Respol and South Korea's SK Lubricants. SK will hold a 70% stake in ILBOC, with Repsol taking the remaining 30%.

The €330m ($368m)plant will have an annual production capacity of 630,000 tons and adds further output to SK's two other base oil factories - one in Ulsan, in southeastern South Korea, and one in Dumai, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.  The extra capacity will boost SK's total potential output to 3.5 million tons annually.

The joint venture will see SK responsible for technology and marketing, with Repsol focusing on raw materials and infrastructure.

According to SK Lubricants, the ILBOC business structure will cover production through to distribution in Europe.