Shell opens lubricants plant in RI
Thursday, November 5 2015 - 07:10 AM WIB
As part of its continued growth strategy, Shell Thursday opened its latest lubricant blending plant in Asia and the largest operated lubricant plant among the international oil companies in Indonesia. The facility is located at the Marunda Centre, North of Jakarta and sits on 75,000 squaremeters of land, equivalent to ten football fields.
The firm said in a statement the plant is capable ofproducing 136 million liters (120K tons) of finished lubricants a year, enough to change the motor oil of more than 460,000 motorcycles or almost 90,000 carsevery day.
"This plant is testament to our confidence in the strength of the lubricants market in the country. Indonesia is the largest lubricants markets in Southeast Asia and is one of the growth engines for the industry in the region, alongside China and India. This plant brings our world-class lubricant production capability here in Indonesia, strengthening our supply chain. It enables us to meet the lubricant needs of our Indonesian customers, with our high quality and premium lubricants, made here in this new facility. Indonesia's economy has grown rapidly in recent years and lubricants are an essential enabler for this countri's growth ambitions in almost everysector," said Mark Gainsborough, Executive Vice President of Shell Lubricants.
Meanwhile President Director and Country Chairman ot Shell Indonesia Darwin Silalahi added, "We are proud with the establishment ofthis Lubricants Oil Blending Plant in Indonesia. It's a form of commitment to implement our strategy of being close to our customers - driving business growth by offering the right products and services in the right places. Moreover, this new investment is a realization of our mission and vision toenergise Indonesia's progress."
The plant will produce Shell leading lubricant brands likeShell Helix (passenger car motor oil), Shell Advance (motorcycle oil), Shell Rimula (heavy duty engine oil), Shell Spirax (transmission oil), as well asother industral lubricants. These products will support Indonesia's growing demand for vehicle motor oils and other lubricants for applications in sectors like mining, power generation, transportation and the growing infrastructure building sector in the country.
In 2015, Shell was recognised for the third year in a row asthe top international lubricants brand by the Indonesia WOW Brand Award,especially for Shell Helix, Shell Advance and Shell Spirax. In 2014,independent research confirmed that Shell was the most preferred internationalbrand of passenger car motor oil in Indonesia. The same survey shows that in Asia,Shell also ranked first or second in China, Malaysia and Thailand.
The plant has world-class, highly automated lubricant blending, filling and packaging technology. It is equipped with a stringent quality control system that tests lubricants at oil stages of production toensure products meet the high quality specifications associated with Shell'sbrands. As part of the focus on quality products, the plant has been equippedwith a dedicated world-class lubricant-testing laboratory.
Meanwhile, Harjanto, Director General of Chemical and Miscellaneous Industries at Ministry of Industry said investment for the plant was US$132 million.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak