Small and medium-sized private Chinese lubricants manufacturers formed an association in Beijing last month to endorse and boost the quality of domestic producers products.
The China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federations newly established National Oil Enterprise Alliance aims to significantly improve and regulate the quality of Chinese-made lubricants and promote exports, said Yang Shufen, the unions director. The group has more than 40 members.
With this union we hope to improve lube quality and build some strong Chinese lube brands, Yang told Lube Report Asia. She acknowledged that Chinas slowing economy has hindered its lube industry, noting that the union will help small- and medium-sized lube producers go through the difficult time.
China is going through a transitional period as its government puts more demand on manufacturers to develop better quality products with advanced technologies and more ecological focus, she said. The only way for lube producers to survive and thrive is to move towards the same direction to support the countrys development.
The organization will also move to eliminate companies producing subpar lubricants. We have too many SMEs [and their] quality varies. We want to wipe out those with poor quality to leave room for good brands to grow, and this takes time, noted Yang, who is also president of Harbin Yew Oil, a lube supplier based in Harbin, Heilongjiang province.
To achieve this, Yang said the union will work with Chinas General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine to choose qualified brands each year that will be listed on the departments website. It will also send experts to SMEs sites to conduct various training and quality-inspection services.
The unions website will list members that have undergone a strict approval process by our experts, Yang said, adding that the group has already received over 1,000 applications for membership so far.
Yang noted several private companies that exemplify the unions standards, including Nanjing-based Lopal, Shandong province-based Fangyu, and Shangdong Qingyuan Group. These companies have the technology, good quality control systems and talent, she said. Their lubes are as least as good as multinational brands, which are all made in China too.
She expressed confidence that once Chinese brands gain consumers trust, they will beat out foreign brands in the high-quality lubricants market, which multinationals currently dominate. Chinese entrepreneurs are patriotic, she added. They dont want to hand a lucrative market over to foreigners.