China lubes production continues to grow


China's lubricant production rose again in March, continuing the country's upward trend in output.

According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, the total lubes output for March 2011 was just over 826 thousand tons a massive 36% improvement on the previous month with China's total oil output in March up 18% year on year at a little more than 2bn tons.

The lubes industry was helped by a strong domestic economy with local finished product output gradually increasing, especially for the larger lubes brands including Great Wall and Kunlun/Shell.  Raw material supply also improved boosting the overall production chain throughout the month.