Pertamina eyes 10 percent of Australian lubricant market

State-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina has officially launched its three prime car lubricant brands in Australia, with a target to control at least 10 percent of the country?s lubricant market in five years, Kontan reported on Saturday.

The three lubricant brands which were officially launched in Sydney on Friday are Fastron, Prima X and Meditran SX.

?With the launch of the three brands, Australia becomes the third overseas market for Pertamina's lubricants after United Arab Emirates and Pakistan,? Pertamina?s Marketing Director Ahmad Faisal said after the product launching.

He said Pertamina had opened a retail outlet in Sydney to sell lubricants and would soon open another outlet in the city before opening several more in the country?s main cities such as Melbourne, Perth and Canberra.

Faisal said that although the country had a population of only about 22 million, the size of its car lubricant market was as big as Indonesia's. ?The market is quite promising,? he said. According to him, the demand for lubricants in the country reaches about 560,000 kiloliters a year

Pertamina begun selling lubricants in the country last year to test the market. ?The result was quite good as Pertamina was able sell up to 5,000 kiloliters in the country during the year,? he added.

With such a positive market response, Pertamina expected to book at least four percent increase in total sales in the country a year, he said. ?With this target, we hope we will be able to control at least 10 percent of the Australian lubricant market within four to five years,? he added. (*)