A major Japanese lube brand is consolidating its presence in the Chinese market
The wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese lubes company Idemitsu Kosan Co Ltd, Idemitsu Lube (China) Co Ltd, will open a new sales office in the northeastern city of Changchun, China. According to President Kazuhisa Nakano, the new office will be an important base for Idemitsu's lubricants business overseas by strengthening its customer support system, sales and marketing capacity.
Idemitsu hopes to capitalise on China's growing lubricants market, which is largely fuelled by the booming auto-sector, and plans to sell 4,000 kilolitres through 2012 from the new branch. Idemitsu reported sales of around 370,000 kilolitres of lubricants throughout 40 countries in 2011 and hopes that the new addition will consolidate its customer base in years to come.
Idemitsu Kosan ranked 233 on the Fortune 500 index in 2011 with $37.2 billion in revenue, up 30.2% from 2009.