MOSCOW (MRC) -- Total has inaugurated its new state-of-the-art lubricants oil blending plant, strategically located in the Kaluga region of the Russian Federation, as per the company's press release.
The grand opening ceremony took place today, October 15th, in the presence of Anatoly Artamonov, Governor of the Kaluga Region, and Patrick Pouyanne, Chairman and CEO of Total.
This blending and production plant will allow Total to localize the production of its top-tier lubricants for the Russian market. With an investment equivalent to USD50 million, this facility has been designed to produce initially 40,000 tons of automotive and industrial lubricants per year, with a scale-up option to bring this capacity up to 70,000 tons per year.
The plant is equipped with a fully automated blending system and ultramodern filling lines. Covering an area of 7 hectares of the Vorsino industrial park in the Kaluga Region, this facility opens less than two years after the start of construction. Its operations are creating 50 new working positions onsite.
"As illustrated by our commitment to major LNG projects in the Arctic, Russia has become a key country for Total. In addition to our upstream activities, Russia is also one of the highest priority development markets for our Marketing & Services and downstream products, especially lubricants" underlined Patrick Pouyanne, Chairman and CEO of Total. " With this production & blending facility opening in Kaluga today, we are showing our strong dedication to our Russian customers. This new plant will strengthen our position in the Russian and Central Asian markets. It is fully in line with our strategy to grow profitability in developing markets and contribute strongly to the Group’s financial performance."
"The opening of Total factory once again confirms the economic and investment attractiveness of the Kaluga region for international partners.” commented Anatoly Artamonov, Governor of the Kaluga region. “We aspire to provide the best conditions for companies which understand the importance of production localization in Russia, develop the import substitution policy and take care about the environment by creating ecologically safe production plants. The Government of the region is ready to support them in such important and long-term projects".
This new plant will produce the entire range of Total and Elf lubricants products including: "Total Quartz" for passenger cars, "Total Rubia" for commercial vehicles, a full range of industrial oils, the "Fuel Economy" lubricants line, which allows both commercial and passenger vehicles as well as off-road vehicles to significantly reduce their fuel consumption.
In addition to the Russian market, Total Vostok also plans to ship products to a number of countries in Central Asia and to Belarus. With the start of this local production, consumer companies in the region will benefit from several advantages: a reduced dependence on imports, a significant decrease in both production and delivery times and an optimization of logistics and storage costs for the final products.
As MRC wrote before, in December 2017, Total inaugurated the new units at its Antwerp integrated refining & petrochemicals platform, which have progressively started up in the previous few months.
Total Vostok , subsidiary of the Marketing & Services Division of Total, is supplying automotive lubricants of Total and Elf brands, a wide range of industrial lubricants, as well as special fluids, fuel additives and special fuels to the Russian market. In addition to the extensive distribution network, stretching from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok, Total Vostok has branches in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg and Kazan.
Total Lubricants is a leading global manufacturer and marketer of engine oils and lubricants. It has 35 production plants worldwide and more than 5,800 employees in more than 100 countries. Total Lubrifiants offers innovative, efficient and environmentally responsible products and services developed by more than 130 researchers at its R&D center. Total Lubricants is a partner of choice for the automotive, industrial and marine markets.
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