Nigeria’s Eterna Plc, which manufactures and distributes Castrol’s lubricants in Nigeria, saw sales from its lube unit rise in the first three months of the year as input costs surged.Lube sales of 3.76bn Nigerian Naira ($9.06mn) in the first three months of the year rose for a fifth straight quarter, climbing by 27pc from the same period a year earlier. Sales accounted for 14pc of Eterna’s total sales of N26.82bn. The share was down from 20.6pc the same period last year and the lowest since 2020.There was no breakdown of the lube unit’s quarterly profit..Other lube blenders in Nigeria also saw their lube sales rise strongly in the first quarter of the year. But costs rose even faster. The higher costs slashed the lube producers’ profitability.Costs have risen in response to surging base oil prices and the depreciation of Nigeria’s currency over the past year.Eterna imports and markets petroleum products like gasoline, diesel and base oils. It operates a 15,000 t/yr lube blending plant at Sagamu, Ogun state, about 70km north of Lagos.It sells its own branded lubricants and produces and is the sole distributor of Castrol lubricants in Nigeria..Nigeria’s Conoil sees Q1 lube profit fall
