Afton Chemicals and Infineum are both seeking to establish a presence in China's fast growing lubricants market.
Infineum have big plans for China Image: Infineum.com |
Afton Chemicals, a UK-based lubricants producer, indicated its intentions to move into China's lucrative heavy vehicle market after delivering an important technical presentation titled "Gear Lubricants Suitable for High Loads and High Speeds - Creating the Ideal Formulation Balance" at the 2013 Dalian Lubricant Technique and Economy Forum in Dalian, China.
The paper, presented by Afton's lubricants formulator Chip Hewette, will focus on how lab testing on lubricants compares with real world conditions, with a particular emphasis on heavily-loaded vehicles.
Hewette advocated for newer, more accurate testing that takes into account stop-and-go driving, over-the-road transits, and steep mountain climbs. The presentation aimed at having particular resonance with those involved in China's burgeoning logistics sector, where trucks are regularly required to cross an number of weather extremes to reach their destination and could indicate that Afton is eyeing that market.
Meanwhile, fellow UK petrochemical formulations company, Infineum International, has officially formed a Wholly-Owned Foreign Enterprise (WOFE) in Shanghai, with a view to entering the lucrative Chinese market.
"Since the establishment of Infineum in 1999, China has always been a substantial part of our global development strategy", says Fu Limin, Infineum China MD. "We expect the wholly-owned company in China will bring us much closer to our local customers and OEMs. We will be able to understand their specific needs better and to provide the best technical solutions quicker."
Executive VP Trevor Russell believes China, already the world's largest automobile maker, will soon become the world's largest additive market. Russell claims the majority of growth will come from an increasing technical array of products.