The French major is looking to expand across Asia with a large addition to existing capacity
Total's new facility Image: Total |
The new, state-of-the-art lubricants blending plant will have an annual capacity of some 310,000 tons. it is set to boost massively Total's offering in the Asia Pacific region, which currently accounts for over 25% of the major's global lubricants sales.
Philippe Boisseau, President of Marketing & Services at Total, believes the "new Singapore lubricants hub illustrates [Total's] strategy to grow the Marketing & Services segment while maintaining a high profitability and contributing strongly to the Group financial performance."
The new hub will focus largely on the high return business segment, using its existing partnerships across the region to generate growth. Total's intention is to double sales across the region and will focus on delivering high quality lubes to auto, two-wheel, industrial and marine segments.
According to a recent report from Kline, a consultancy, predicts the region will account for more than 40% of global demand over the next five years, driven largely by China and Malaysia. The report also shows demand for synthetic lubricants has grown 10% year on year in China, with ExxonMobil, BP and Shell being the products of choice for most high-end lubes consumption.
Other automotive lubricants are split between PCMO and 2T/4T, interspersed with a small quantity other gear oils, ATFs and greases.
Demand in the Asia Pacific region, home to more than 4bn people, will grow to around 20m tons by 2020, when it will represent almost half of global demand.