Shell expects to double its lubricants production in Russia in 2014 and to start exporting to Belarus, Ukraine and other neighboring countries, the company said on Tuesday.
The company expects to produce around 40 million liters of finished products at its plant in Torzhok, Russia, by the end of this year. The plant produces 26 types of finished lubricants and is one of the Shell’s biggest production facilities worldwide.
Next year we are planning a significant increase of lubricants production, or almost two times more than what we produced in 2013, Oleg Deriy, Shell’s operations manager for Central and East Europe, told Lube Report.
The company in 2014 also plans to begin shipping lubricants to Ukraine and Belarus, Russias traditional export destinations, as well as to other countries. However, Shell excludes the possibility of exporting products made at its Torzhok plant to Western Europe. Taking into account the custom fees [in the trade between Russia and the European Union], and the current capacities of Shell in Europe, this could prove to be unprofitable, Deriy said.
The company opened its 200 million liters (180,000 tons) per year Russia lubricants production complex in Torzhok, Tverskaya Oblast, in October last year. At the moment, the plant uses around a third of its capacity and produces 5 million liters of finished products monthly, which correlates with actual market consumption of Shell products in Russia, according to the company.
