Vietnam is currently one of the three countries with the largest consumption of lubricants in Asia, with a market size of more than USD 1 billion by 2022. Of these, foreign and imported lubricant companies account for 70-80%.
According to recent reports, the size of the engine lubricant market in Vietnam is expected to continue to increase in the coming years. In 2024, this scale is estimated to reach 213.05 million liters and is expected to climb to 232.16 million liters in 2026, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of about 4.39% during the forecast period from 2024 to 2026. Among the segments, the market share of motorbike lubricants accounts for the majority of the industry. This is explained by the growth in maintenance frequency as well as the rise in motorbike numbers in Vietnam, leading to a rise in engine lubricant consumption in this sector.
From January 1, 2009, to August 1, 2021, nationwide registered 5 million cars and 74 million motorbikes (each year the number of newly registered vehicles rises on average by over 25% with many types of diverse vehicles) with the average lubricant consumption of a motorbike being 3-4 liters/year, a car being 12-18 liters/year, and a truck being 120-160 liters/year.
Additionally, the number of sales points in the whole market is also very large, about 100,000 points of sale. The main sales channels are car repair, spare parts, car wash, car garage, gas station, lubricant store,...
Some lubricant products of brands in the Vietnamese market
In recent years, besides the long-standing "national" lubricant product lines Shell, Total, Mobil, Castrol,... the Vietnamese market has also witnessed the participation of world-famous brands such as Idemitsu, Caltex,... The above statistics show a colorful and vibrant picture of the lubricant market in Vietnam.
Castrol
Castrol is a British global brand of industrial and automotive lubricants, supplying a wide range of lubricants, greases, and similar products for most lubrication applications. To enter the market, British Petroleum Group (BP) entered into a joint venture with Vietnam Petroleum Corporation and established Castrol BP Petco LLC.
With more than 20 years of presence in the Vietnamese market, the company has linked and supplied products to more than 8,000 retailers of lubricants for motorbikes and cars. Castrol has become and is the leading brand in the Vietnamese lubricant market.
Castrol's business situation tended to decrease in 2021 in terms of both net revenue and profit after tax but the company quickly developed stably again in 2022, achieving nearly VND 4,900 billion in revenue with the following profit. Its profit after tax was about VND 1,250 billion.
Shell
Shell Vietnam Company Limited is a company with 100% foreign capital. Shell's petroleum products began appearing in the Vietnamese market early, around 1894. In Vietnam, Shell produces, sells, and markets high-quality lubricant products for cars and trucks, personal machines to specialized means of transport such as heavy vehicles and ships; for engines and industrial machines, under famous brands such as Shell Advance, Shell Helix, Shell Rimula, Shell Tellus, Shell Alexia,...
Shell Vietnam's net revenue had a tendency to grow quite steadily with an increase of about 16% per year. In 2022, the brand's net revenue stood at nearly VND 2,170 billion. However, different from the net revenue trend, the company's after-tax profit situation fluctuated slightly, around a profit of VND 250-270 billion per year.
Net revenue of some lubricant brands in Vietnam
Motul (distributed by Vilube)
Motul was founded more than 150 years ago in New York in 1853 with the main business of producing lubricant from whale blubber used for lanterns. Then, in the early years of the 20th century, the company began producing the first motor lubricant products.
Attracted by a new and rapidly growing market in Southeast Asia, Motul decided to invest in Vietnam, a new and large-scale market with more than 80 million people. In December 2006, Motul established a strategic partnership with Vietnam Lubricants and Chemicals Joint Stock Company, known as Vilube, to become the main distributor for Motul in the Vietnamese market.
Vilube's business picture had a breakthrough in 2022 in terms of both net revenue and profit after tax. Specifically, the revenue and profit of distributing and selling Motul products in 2022 were nearly 2 times higher than the previous two years, reaching more than VND 2,000 billion in net revenue with after-tax profit of more than VND 210 billion.
Caltex
Chevron Vietnam Lubricants Company Limited (CLVL) is a company under the Chevron group with the mission of producing, marketing, and distributing lubricants and special products under the Caltex brand such as Havoline, Delo, etc. for personal, industrial, and marine vehicle owners through 12,000 retail stores across Vietnam.
During the period 2020-2022, Caltex witnessed a strong growth trend in net revenue. Regarding profit after tax, although there was a slight decline in 2021, this number quickly recovered and was higher than the profit in 2020, recording about VND 330 billion.
Profit after tax of some lubricant brands in Vietnam
Idemitsu
Idemitsu Kosan is a Japanese petroleum company, specializing in refining and trading products processed from petroleum. Idemitsu owns 12 tankers serving international transportation and more than 4,100 service stations.
In 2013, Idemitsu built a lubricant factory in Hai Phong and in 2017 cooperated with the largest Nghi Son lubricant refinery (Thanh Hoa) in Vietnam with a total investment of about USD 6 billion. The brand produces and meets technical and quality criteria for most car and motorbike manufacturers from Japan such as Toyota, Honda, Yamaha, Isuzu, Hino, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Nissan, …
Idemitsu's net revenue had a trend to climb quite stably in 2020 and 2021, then increased sharply in 2022, achieving nearly VND 1,700 billion. Meanwhile, dissimilar net revenue, its profit after tax tended to fluctuate and decrease slightly in 2022, but the drop is not significant, reaching more than VND 170 billion.
Total
Founded in 1920, Total is a multinational lubricant and gas company with a history of nearly 100 years with operations spanning 130 countries. In 1990, Total entered the Vietnamese market, and in 1999, the brand built and put into operation the Total Energies lubricant factory in Go Dau Industrial Park (Dong Nai). Up to now, Total products have always been popular with customers in the Vietnamese market.
The growth trend in net revenue and profit after tax of Total lubricants had opposite trends. While Total's net revenue grew continuously over three years, reaching nearly VND 1,300 billion in 2022, the brand's after-tax profit tended to decrease by VND 10 billion per year.
Mobil (distributed by Nam Giang)
MOBIL is an American multinational lubricant and gas corporation, with 150 years of experience. This is also the second-largest lubricant and gas corporation in the world. In Vietnam, the brand has always been among the TOP best-selling lubricants for 5 consecutive years since its return in 2016 until now.
Mobil products are 100% imported to Vietnam and distributed to several main companies such as PAN Investment and Development Co., Ltd., EQUATOR Trade and Services, Nam Giang Trade and Services, and so on. In which the largest revenue and profit of Mobil products are distributed and imported from Brenntag by Nam Giang company.
Nam Giang Company recorded stable development in net revenue, going up sales by 28% year over year. Meanwhile, unlike the stable growth of revenue, profit after tax went down slightly in 2021. After that, the company quickly grew strongly again in 2022, nearly 3 times the yearly profit compared to 2020.
In the context of significant growth of transportation in Vietnam, the lubricant industry is creating great opportunities for businesses. With impressive growth in cars and trucks of around 15% and 10% per year, along with a steady growth in the number of new motorbikes registered each year, the growth potential of Vietnamese engine lubricant dealers is undeniable. Therefore, currently, in addition to long-standing imported lubricant lines, this market also witnessed the birth of a with range of domestic lubricant product lines that also have strong development potential (such as GrandOil, Petrolimex,..) and are being interested in many auto lubricant dealers in Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh, and Hanoi, among others.
Source: Vietdata's Vietnam Engine Lubricant Market Report in 2022