Shell's Russian affiliate is looking to signficantly increase its finished lubes output by 2027.
More lubes from Torzhok Image: Shell Group |
Shell Neft announced that its Torzhok plant in Russia's Tver Region, will push the plant to its full design capacity of 200m litres of finished product annually within ten years.
The plant currently produces 90m litres of the 120m supplied by Shell to the Russian market. The plant, opened in 2012, produces a wide range of products from engine and marine oils to hydraulic and gearbox lubricants.
Shell Neft also revealed plans to double its existing 259 fuel retail outlets across the country within the next five years.
The news comes as Russian consumers expect a positive 2018, with the lubricants market also showing signs of recovery. At a macro level, according to an index of Russian consumer sentiment from global market analysts GFK: "81% of Russians expect that 2018 will be for them and their families "good or rather good"". The percentage is the highest since the report started more than 10 years ago, and follows positive figures from 2017.
Reporting on GFK micro research on Russia's lubricants industry, Lube Report highlighted that the lubes market showed signs of recovery from the start of 2017, which continued throughout the year and shows signs of further positive outcomes in 2018.
According to the report, sales of fully synthetic engine oils helped the recovery, as well as a drop of around 5% in lube prices. The uplift also extended beyond just lubricants, with sales of aftermarket parts improving in the first half of 2017.