BP started building a lubricants blending plant in Tianjin, China, news agencies in the country recently reported. First announced in December 2017, the plant is expected to have 200,000 metric tons per year of production capacity to supply lubricants and greases to customers in north China.
The company had announced the plant as an expected RMB 1.5 billion investment (now U.S. $213 million) in 2017 that represented the companys single largest blending plant investment worldwide and its third plant in China. Located on 150,000 square meters of area, the plant is expected to start operating before the end of 2021 and be able to produce lubricants, greases and lube additives.
The new plant will serve as a strategic production hub for BP and Castrols lubricants business in China, complementing the two plants already in the country.
The plant is located in the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area in Binhai New Area. Tianjin is the largest coastal open city in north China and one of four municipalities directly under the Chinese Central Government.
To supply high quality lubricants to the fast-growing Chinese market, BP-Castrol set up its first lubricants blending plant in Shenzhen, Guangdong province in 1985 and the second in Taicang, Jiangsu province in 2005.