Partnership aids local market footprint

Global refining, manufacturing and marketing company Q8Oils – subsidiary of petroleum giant Kuwait Petroleum Corporation – is now a key competitor in the South African lubricants market, owing to an innovative manufacturing and distribution agreement with local oil company Blue Chip Lubricants.

Q8Oils identified Blue Chip Lubricants as the perfect partner to expand its footprint into the Southern African market.

Q8Oils has acknowledged that the best expansion strategy to achieve growth would be to partner with reliable distributors that have gained a solid reputation for service excellence and have the necessary infrastructure to manufacture Q8Oils premium products.

Blue Chip Lubricants is the sole manufacturer of Q8Oils products in Southern and Central Africa, with the partnership also resulting in Blue Chip Lubricants significantly investing in the extensive upgrade of its manufacturing plant and testing laboratory in Randburg.

The plant has increased its yearly production to more than 48-million litres of lubricants and 2.4-million kilograms of grease.

Blue Chip Lubricants technical manager Johan le Roux mentions that, with the current economic situation in South Africa, many organisations have to make the “painful choice” between quality and price.

“The comprehensive Q8Oils product range eliminates that choice, and provides the local market with the advantage of having great-quality products, with major vehicle and equipment manufacturers’ approval, and pricing that can accommodate most budgets.”

In addition, the highly experienced technical and lubricant experts of Blue Chip Lubricants can assist customers in analysing the lubrication requirements of their business. This ensures that no unnecessary waste or damage is taking place and that all equipment, machinery and vehicles are operating optimally, consequently decreasing downtime and increasing productivity.

With the support of Q8Oils’ research laboratories, in the Netherlands – also the biggest research and development facility in Europe – Blue Chip Lubricants can develop innovative new products that are tailormade for the South African market.

Le Roux also points out that Q8Oils invests strongly in technical research and product development. Unlike most other oil companies that use off-the-shelf technology, many of Q8Oils’ key lubricants are the result of in-house formulations.

This enables Q8Oils and Blue Chip Lubricants to offer tailormade solutions for every particular challenge using product quality and performance that are “far above average”, he adds.

This partnership – making Q8Oils available to all South African customers – is good news for the key sectors that are at the heart of South Africa’s economy, which will ensure that business continues without a glitch. “Blue Chip Lubricants has the people, products and proficiency to keep the wheels of South Africa turning smoothly,” says Le Roux.

Blue Chip Lubricants produces high-quality lubricants under strict production and quality- control measures set and monitored by Q8Oils. Blue Chip Lubricants supplies oils and grease to many sectors, with most of its customers active in the agriculture, commercial, construction, industrial and mining markets.