Andrew Knox News

Total’s new Asia Pacific blending plant in Singapore produced its first batch of Total Lubmarine products. Andrew Knox, Total Lubmarine’s Asia-Pacific General Manager said, “Now that our Singapore blending facility is up and running, we can cater more effectively for our growing Asian customer base. Located at Tuas, Singapore, the plant opened in July 2015 and is Total’s largest with an annual production capacity of 310,000 metric tons. The Asia-Pacific region already accounts for more than 50 percent of Total Lubmarine’s sales and with increasing shipping flows through the area…

Increased demand for marine lubricants in the Asia-Pacific region has underpinned the growth of Total Lubmarine’s Hong Kong office which this year celebrates 25 years of service to ship operators across the region. Today, Asia represents more than 50% of Total’s lubricants sales across all segments. Total Lubmarine’s Hong Kong office is a key part of the company’s Asian infrastructure. The company’s Hong Kong story began in 1990 when Elf Lubricant Hong Kong Ltd was established as Lubmarine’s head office for the Asia-Pacific region with four staff providing marine lubricants and services to customers in Hong Kong and China. 25 years later the company…

Marine lubricants supplier TOTAL Lubmarine has outlined its position concerning increasing raw material costs and growing shortages of marine lubricants. Andrew Knox, Head of Marketing at TOTAL Lubmarine, says, "Recent events have shown how tight the worldwide situation is. This is due to a long historical period of low and decreasing margins which have discouraged the industry from investing. "With the 2004 and 2005 increases in crude oil and lubricant raw material market prices, industry profitability has worsened, and the incredible acceleration in cost increases in recent months puts the industry in an unprecedented position of vulnerability. Since July, base oil price costs have increased by between 24 and 35 percent.