Grease production in China saw a dramatic 71.5 percent increase from 2005 to 2006, according to NLGIs latest grease production survey, leading a worldwide increase of 17 percent.
Reported production in the Peoples Republic of China totaled 510 million pounds last year – almost a quarter of the worlds total production of 2.1 billion pounds – up from 297 million pounds in 2005. Production of lithium soap greases in China rose from 80 percent of the total to more than 86 percent from 2004 to 2006, while calcium greases dropped from 13 percent to 9 percent in the same period.
Plans outlined by one of Chinas three national oil companies illustrate the growth in that country’sgrease industry. Sinopec Lubricant Co.s Li Liangyao, deputy general manager, told the ICIS Asian Base Oils Conference last month that his company currently produces around 80,000 metric tons of grease annually. Sinopec Lubricants is currently building a new grease facility at a cost of RMB 200 million (U.S. $26.3 million), Li said, that will boost its grease production capacity to 150,000 tons per year by 2008.
That growth is also reflected in 2006s worldwide grease production, which totaled more than 2.1 billion pounds (960 million kilograms), up from 1.9 billion pounds in 2005.
On a comparative basis – that is, only including volumes produced by companies that provided data for each of the past four years – global production rose 17 percent from 2005 to 2006. Production on a comparative basis also rose in Europe and North America as well as in China. The reported production rose in India, Africa, the Middle East, India and in the Caribbean, Central and South America regions, while it fell in Japan and Southeast Asia.
According tothe annual production survey for 2006 (reporting global grease production for calendar years 2003 through 2006) from NLGI, formerly the National Lubricating Grease Institute, higher quality greases continue to gain market share. In 2006, more than 74 percent of greases manufactured were lithium soap greases, up from 68 percent in 2003. Polyurea grease volumes rose 18 percent in the same period, but their market share stayed about 5 percent.
The growth in the Chinese market seemed to be the most significant trend, King Industries Thomas Pane, secretary of NLGIs executive committee, told Lube Report.
Pane said there were no particular new trends in thickener market shares. Japan is always higher in the polyureas, where North America is always higher in the lithium complexes, he said. But that seems to be a trend thats been holding for some time. There are also certain areas that basically manufacture more calcium – thats something you see year in and year after.
Total reported grease production in North America in 2006 was 545 million pounds. On a comparative basis, production rose 3 percent over 2005 and 14 percent over 2003. Lithium soap greases, with 68 percent of the market, rose 1 percent from 2005 to 2006. Calcium soap greases saw a 19 percent increase, but have just over 7 percent market share.
In Europe, reported production totaled 414 million pounds. On a comparative basis, European grease production rose a modest one percent from 2005. A dramatic 1,363 percent increase in calcium sulfonate soap grease volumes was offset by a 29 percent decline in complex calcium soap volumes.
Comparative data is only available for worldwide, China, North America and Europe because data from other regions is insufficient to maintain individual company confidentiality, explained Joseph A. Lurz Jr. of J&A Consultants, Houston, Texas, who compiles the report for NLGI.
In Japan, 2006 production topped 184 million pounds, down from 190 million in 2005. Grease producers in India and the Indian subcontinent made nearly 182 million pounds last year, an increase from 163 million in 2005.
The NLGI report results illustrate how types of thickeners used differ greatly from region to region:
|
|
Aluminum Soap |
Calcium Soap |
Lithium Soap |
Polyurea |
Other thickeners |
|
N. America |
9% |
8% |
68% |
6% |
9% |
|
Europe |
5% |
16% |
68% |
3% |
8% |
|
China |
2% |
9% |
86% |
3% |
<1% |
|
Japan |
2% |
8% |
62% |
23% |
5% |
|
Indian sub-continent |
<1% |
5% |
85% |
0% |
10% |
Other regions covered in the 23-page NLGI survey report include the Caribbean, Central and South America; Africa and the Middle East; and the Pacific and Southeast Asia. For each of the four years in the report, production by region is broken down in detail by type of thickener.
Lurz noted that company participation decreased from previous years. Twelve companies, with a combined annual production of about 58 million pounds reported in previous surveys did not respond with information for 2006. The number of companies declining to participate increased to eight for the survey, up from three in the 2005 survey.
NLGI, based in Kansas City, Mo., offers additional copies of the NLGI Grease Production Survey Report for $75 to member companies and $150 to nonmembers. For more information and to order, visit www.NLGI.org and click on NLGI Store. To order, download and print the publications order form.