By Kang Seung-woo
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won is seeking a bigger presence in the European markets for the chaebol’s lubrication oil business affiliate, the company said Monday.
According to the group, Chey, along with SK Lubricants CEO Choi Kwan-ho and SK G&G President Yoo Jung-joon, visited Repsol YPF Chairman Antonio Brufau last week in Madrid, Spain and agreed to cooperate in a variety of areas including the ongoing construction of a new production facility.
The two sides began to build the plant at the Spain-based company’s Cartagena refinery in June last year, and it is scheduled to be completed by 2014.
SK, based in Seoul, said that the plant will produce 12,000 barrels per day of Group III lubricants and it is expected to be a trailblazer for the group’s entry into other European markets.
Given that about 40 percent of the demand for Group III base oil is from Europe, the joint venture with Repsol is estimated to boost the Korean firm’s market share there.
SK Lubricants, which operates two plants in Ulsan, North Gyeongsang Province, currently produces 4,000 barrels per day of Group II and 17,000 barrels per day of Group III oils.
Elsewhere, the company also set up a joint venture plant in Indonesia with a daily production capacity of around 7,000 barrels per day of Group III lubricants.