Hamriyah's first lube plant begins operating

The first lube blending operation in Hamriyah Free Zone went operational over the weekend when the Dh5 million AXCL Gulf plant was inaugurated by Director-General Rashid Al Leem.

The plant has a capacity of 75,000 tonnes per annum for commercial, industrial, automotive and marine lubes, chief executive Ali Murtaza said. There are plans to add a grease plant at a future date.

"We obtain our base stock from refineries in Belgium and Italy, and from Blue Crescent in Saudi Arabia, with our target markets comprising over 20 countries in Africa, East Europe and South-East Asia and the GCC," he said.

He acknowledged that the lube market is highly competitive, but felt his company's products would hold their own based on prices and quality. "We are an ISO 9002 company, and also lay stress on environment, health and safety considerations."

There are around six major lube blenders in the UAE, most of them based in Jebel Ali. The Hamriyah Free Zone is expected to see a second lubes project coming up next year, industry sources said.