Infineum starts up its joint venture PIB unit in China

Infineum, a petroleum additives enterprise, announced that its joint venture company, Jinzhou Jinex Lubricant Additive Co. Ltd. (Jinex), has successfully started up its 30,000-tonnes polyisobutylene (PIB) unit in Jinzhou China to make international quality lube oil additives.

Construction of the Jinex PIB plant began in January 1999. The plant uses Infineum's proprietary PIB technology licensed to Jinex. This is the first of several phases to enable Jinex to become the first domestic integrated additive plant offering international standard additive products in China.

Jinex was established in 1995 as a lubricant additive blending joint venture between ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical Holdings, Inc, an affiliate of Exxon Mobil Corporation, and Jinzhou Petrochemical Company. Pending the approval of the relevant authorities in China, ExxonMobil has agreed to transfer its equity in Jinex to Infineum.

"The completion of Jinex's PIB unit marks an important milestone for the joint venture company to become a world-class additive manufacturing base," said Mr Somchai Kornkanitnan, Infineum's General Manager, Asia Pacific.

The PIB manufactured at the Jinex plant is used as the key raw material for the manufacture of dispersant additives. Dispersants are used in lubricants to reduce wear, inhibit oxidation and varnish formation, and disperse sludge. PIB is also used in the low smoke two-stroke motorcycle oil as a viscosity improver and in sealants, adhesives, cables and wires and many other industrial applications.

Jinzhou Petrochemical is one of China's largest manufacturers of lubricant additives. It operates one of the nation's major petrochemical complexes, and has an extensive domestic market network.

Infineum is one of the leading companies in the development, manufacture and sales of petroleum additives for fuels and lubricants. Formed as a joint venture between ExxonMobil Chemical Company, a division of the Exxon Mobil Corporation, The Shell Petroleum Company Ltd and Shell Oil Company, Infineum became fully operational on January 1, 1999.