SK Lubricants optimistic to hit 20% market share in Visayas

CEBU, Philippines - With LG Line Industrial, Inc. as the new product distributor for the entire region since April 2013, SK Lubricants aims to sustain a growth of twenty percent in terms of market share in the Visayas lubricant market within three to five years, banking on its strength in fuel savings and long drain interval.

This is according to Ariel Alcantara, president and chief executive officer of LG Line Industrial, Inc., during the product presentation last June 13 that was attended by taxi operators, motorcycle owners, and auto suppliers in Cebu.

This is in line with the vision of the SK Lubricants to expand its brand and simultaneously strengthen its brand power and presence in strategic markets.

The company shall also introduce itself as the new regional distributor of SK Lubricants in other provinces like Tacloban, Tagbilaran, and Ormoc.

In an interview with The FREEMAN, Alcantara shared that the lubricant users usually have the wrong notion of using any kind of oil in their vehicles, whether it may be consumer or commercial type for motorcycle, gasoline and diesel engines.

He added that this may be attributed with the lack of awareness and inclination to stick to only one oil brand in order to save.

He said that if the market is aware of using the proper lubricant for a specific type of need for their vehicle, they can save fuel and enjoy longer engine life.

“Gusto nilang makatipid sa oil. Some are even using recycled oil which is not good,” he said.

He then recommended the Korean brand SK Lubricants which has been present in the Philippine market for five years, boasting of its quality and affordability compared to other brands.

It is also the warranty oil provided by KIA to its customers nationwide.

To further increase the level of awareness in the lubricant market, Alcantara said that LG Line Industrial, Inc. plans to conduct educational campaign and information drive such as mechanical clinic seminars and motorcycle pre-change oil programs.

SK Lubricants, a fully-owned subsidiary of SK Energy, was the first to produce and commercialize Group III base stock in the world in 1995. In the same year, ZIC as SK’s finished lubricants’ brand name symbolizes the 21st century lubricant that was launched in the domestic market of South Korea.

Ever since the launch of ZIC, the brand became synonymous with “highest quality oil” and it has been the top selling lubricant brand for more than a decade in South Korea’s domestic market.

After establishing a strong foothold in South Korea, SK ZIC began to seek opportunities to expand its brand to other countries, starting in Russia. It pioneered its success through SK’s proprietary technology, Very High Viscosity Index (VHVI), which enabled cold engine starting even in the most severe cold weather in Siberia. Currently, ZIC is the third largest brand imported to Russia in terms of volume.

With a vision of becoming a regional major in Asia, ZIC has also expanded its presence to other strategic markets such as Southeast Asia and Middle East. SK Lubricants further expanded its brand to China by constructing a local blending plant in the free trade zone of Tianjin which became fully operational by the end of 2011.

To date, SK is the top Group III base oil manufacturer in the world, accounting for more than 50% of the total global volume produced. It also currently serves its base oil to all leading lubricant manufacturers like Shell, Exxon Mobil, Valvoline, Repsol and BP Castrol among others.

Since 2008, SK Lubricants has appointed SK Techno-lube Corporation as its sole authorized importer and distributor in the Philippines. From then, ZIC lubricants have steadily made its way to the Philippine lubricant market in the segments of transport which include buses, taxi fleets and motorcycles, commercial trucking, construction, marine and fishing, general manufacturing segments.

Committed to bring high-quality lubricants through its patented technology and competitive pricing in the market, SK Techno-lube expands to provide its “affordable luxury” by appointing and extending to partners in specific areas of the country such as LG Line Industrial, Inc. for the Visayas region.  (FREEMAN)