Japan’s Adeka Corp. will complete an expansion of its lubricant additive plant this month, and seeks to expand sale of its engine oil additives to the United States and China, a company representative told Lube Report.
The company did not disclose capacity of its Soma plant in Fukushima prefecture, northeast Japan, but the representative said commercial production will start later, and we will expand in line with demand.
Lubricant additives that contribute to improving fuel efficiency and reducing [carbon dioxide] emissions in automobiles showed strength in Japan and overseas. [Our strategy is to] expand sales of engine oil additives in the U.S. and China, the company said in a statement about its 2018 financial results.
The plant covers about 130,000 square meters and mainly produces lubricant additives that are based on organic molybdenum and are used in automotive engine oils, grease and industrial oils.
The organic molybdenum compound acts as a friction modifier, and the company claims it helps minimize metal wear with excellent lubricity performance under severe conditions. Adeka said these additives improved fuel efficiency by an average of 1.7 percent in an independent test that used a 5W-30 engine oil in a Nissan Primera sedan.
Adeka also manufactures additives for metalworking fluids and transmission fluids. The companys overseas sales jumped from 42.3 percent of its total sales in 2017 to 46.9 percent, or 140.5 billion (U.S. $1.3 billion), for its 2018 fiscal year.