GulfRay Americas Manufacturing Limited, part of Dammam, Saudi Arabia-based GulfRay Corporation, plans to build a lubricant blending plant in the Spanish Town Economic Zone, in Spanish Town, near Kingston, Jamaica, according to local Jamaican news reports. Government officials reportedly gave approval for the project last month.

The company's plans include four large blenders, which are projected to produce 110,000 litres of lubricants daily, as well as raw material storage capacity of 208,000 litres.

GulfRay plans to import conventional petroleum and synthetic oils for blending to produce a variety of automotive, industrial and marine lubricants to be sold locally and overseas, according to the state run National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) in a permit accessed by Jamaica's Financial Gleaner. The NEPA document explains that the lubricants produced would include brake fluid, radiator coolant, quenchol, hydraulic fluid, refrigeration compressor oil, gear oils, automatic transmission fluid, multipurpose grease and marine oils.

The GulfRay lubricants plant will be the third lubricant blending plant for Jamaica, the others being LSC Jamaica (owned by Pico Rivera, CA-based Lubricating Specialties Company), which operates in Clarendon and is expanding to Kingston, and the 200,000 gallons (757,082 litres) annual capacity Paramount Trading (Jamaica)/Wilmerding (near Pittsburgh), Penn-based Allegheny Petroleum plant, which is now being developed in/near Kingston. For additional information on the Paramount/Allegheny Petroleum plant, visit our story "Allegheny Petroleum, Paramount Break Ground on 2.4 Million GPY Lube Blending Plant in Jamaica" in the July 25, 2016 issue of the OEM/Lube News.

GulfRay and its partners have created a company called Masada Jamaica Limited to handle the operations at the Spanish Town Economic Zone.

The Economic Zone is eventually expected to include the lubricants plant, a car and bus assembly plant, auto parts remanufacturing and distribution, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical manufacturing, and personal care products.