BEIJING – Hainan Handi Sunshine Petrochemical Ltd., one of Chinas leading independent base oils suppliers, announced Sept. 14 that it has entered the finished lubricant market.
On a sunny afternoon in the capitals prestigious Kerry Hotel, business partners and high-profile government officials saw the company launch its new business unit, Handi Lubricant, along with its new product lines. Under the mother brand Handi, it now offers six three synthetic engine oils for gasoline-powered passenger cars under the Qing Jin name, plus three diesel engine oils, a natural gas engine oil and one hydraulic oil under the Qing Long line. In the future, Qing Long will also include industrial lubes.
Handi president Wu Hanling said the lube unit will focus on serving Chinas growing demand for higher quality lubricants.
We want to break into the market that has long been dominated by foreign brands, Wu said at the event. We want to prove that Chinese companies are capable of making the same high quality lubes.
Officials said Handi has the necessary ingredients for higher quality finished lubes – API Group III base stocks from its own base oil plant and additives from Lubrizol, Afton Chemical, Infineum and Chevron Oronite.
Base stock quality determines lube quality, and Handi lubes will for sure use Handi base oils, Wu told Lube Report Asia after the event. Owning our base stock supply chain also distinguishes us from many other lube brands.
While Handis base oil facilities are located on Hainans Yangpu Peninsula, its lube facilities, including a research and development center, are in Taicang, Jiangsu province. Taicang is Chinas largest lube production hub and home to plants operated by Shell, ExxonMobil and Sinopec.
Handi said its blend plant is designed with capacity to produce 500,000 metric tons of finished lubes per year.
A successful businessman, Wu is certainly well aware of Chinas new norm, which refers to an economy that growing at a slower pace compared to recent years, as well as the competition facing his new business.
Chinas slow economy surely poses great challenges to all lube companies in the country, and Handi is no exception, Wu said. However, we also see that in the high quality lube market there are few Chinese brands. Backed by our own high quality base stock supply chain, we are confident of our ability to compete in this sector. He added that he envisioned producing finished lubes back when he started the base stock business in Hainan almost a decade ago.
With our technologies and a highly capable, efficient management team, I believe we will do good during this difficult time, and better when Chinas economy picks up again, Wu said.