Pertamina strengthens footing in Indochina
PT Pertamina continues strengthening its lubricants business through a subsidiary, PT Pertamina Lubricants, which has marketed flagship products to international markets in the last five years.
One of strategic moves performed by the subsidiary, which was established two years ago, was the acquisition of 75% ownership in Bangkok-based lubricants producer AMACO Production Co. Ltd. in December 2014. AMACO Production Co. Ltd., which will change its name into Pertamina Lubricants Thailand Co. Ltd. in the beginning of 2016, is an important business foothold for Pertamina to significantly improve penetration to lubricants market in Thailand or Indochina.
Following a year of operation under the ownership of PT Pertamina Lubricants, the company has successfully increased its operational and financial performance so that Pertamina’s lubricants products for Indochina, which are currently sent from Jakarta, will be produced in Thailand next year.
As the production facilities and marketing organizations operating at the heart of Indochina, Pertamina Lubricants Thailand is targeting to increase lubricants sales volume in Indochina from currently around 4 million liters per year to 12 million liters per year within the next five years. Pertamina’s lubricants are not only marketed in Thailand but also in other markets, such as Cambodia, Laos and Bangladesh.
“Pertamina’s existence in Thailand, whose automotive industry reports a rapid growth among other countries the Southeast Asia and Indochina areas, is very important to strengthen Pertamina’s lubricants business at the global market. This is also a strong asset for the company to cope with competition, particularly when the ASEAN Economic Community starts its roll,” Ahmad Bambang said.
Apart from focusing on Indochina’s lubricants market, PT Pertamina Lubricants also becomes more serious to develop lubricants for export markets, particularly to countries with high potentials of growth in Asia Pacific region such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Japan, Australia and China as well as in Africa and Middle East region such as South Africa, Nigeria and Yemen. Besides the exports of finished products, Pertamina Lubricants also sends overseas Base Oil to various countries in Asia Pacific and West Asia.
To support automotive and industrial lubricants businesses as well as base oil supply for domestic and international markets, PT Pertamina Lubricants currently has three production units in Gresik, Cilacap and Jakarta as well as one production unit in Thailand with a combined capacity of over 460 million liters per year. Given experiences of performing lubricants business and supports from good resources of human capital, technology, knowledge, financial, production facility and reliable R&D, Pertamina’s lubricants products have obtained international recognitions, including rating stamps from international lubricants certification agencies such as API, ACEA and JASO as well as from Original Engine Manufacturer such as Daimler Chrysler, Toyota, Honda and Suzuki. In the latest development, it becomes the technical partner of famous super car Automobile Lamborghini.