KES 1.5 Billion Lubricants Plant to Be Put Up by KenolKobil

KenolKobil will soon be putting up a  Sh.1.5 billion lubricants plant in Mombasa in collaboration with Castrol, which just recently approved its share of investments in the set project.

The Chief Executive of KenolKobil, David Ohana disclosed that they had received a statement that the Castrol Head Office had approved the budget for that project in Kenya, adding that the blended products from the plant will be cheaper than imports from South Africa which they have been relying on for a long period of time.

KenolKobil has another smaller lubricant plant in Kenya with a monthly production capacity of 600 tonnes producing its own brands but the one set to be constructed will produce more lubricants sine it is said that it will have a monthly capacity of 1,000 tonnes. This is so as to strengthen competition that is within the petroleum sector in the country.

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It currently imports the Castrol lubricants from South Africa, which attracts an import duty of 25 per cent. The oil marketer is seeking to import only inputs that attract 10 per cent duty for local blending, critical in cutting costs.

KenolKobil last week announced that its half-year net profit for the six months to June rose 30 per cent growth to Sh1.2 billion on back of lower financing costs which stood at Sh97.9 million compared to last year’s Sh379.4 million.

Kenol Kobil is a pan African oil marketing company that deals with sourcing and marketing of petroleum products. The company tsrade in both crude and refined petroleum products which include motor fuels, industrial oils, LPG, aviation fuels, lubricants and various other specialist oils.