Delfin USA to expand facility

An expansion-minded business previously known only by the code name "Project Bluewater" has been unveiled: Petroleum product manufacturer Delfin Group USA plans to expand its North Charleston plant.

Headquartered in Russia, Delfin purchased the former Shell Lubricants site on Virginia Avenue for $20 million less than a year ago. Now it plans to invest $55 million in the facility.

Delfin will retrofit the plant's existing infrastructure to support manufacturing for its automotive and industrial lubricants to be sold in the U.S. and abroad.

The company's North Charleston operation currently employs 15 workers but will add 160 jobs within the next three to four years, according to a statement Monday.

Delfin said it will complete the initial phase of the expansion next year.

Positioned on the Cooper River, the 42-acre site provides rail and deepwater shipping access. Delfin had considered other unspecified locations in the Southeast for its investment, according to county officials, but the company credited physical assets and local support for its choice.

"The port and infrastructure attracted our attention," Markos

Baghdasarian, president of Delfin Group USA, said in a statement. "However, the support pledged to us by state and local officials created an important advantage for North Charleston versus any other location."

The company could not be reached Monday for further comment.

Delfin's decision to expand locally comes with a 20-year inducement package that will let the company replace property tax payments with a fixed fee based on 6 percent of its property's value. Delfin also will receive a $250,000 credit over the next five years to offset plant upgrades for the expansion.

Delfin is expected to add nearly $7 million to its annual payroll and pay $4.5 million in fees in place of property taxes over the next two decades.

Nearly 90 companies in the area are now foreign-owned, but Delfin is the only Russian company, according to the Charleston Regional Development Alliance, which promotes the area to businesses.

The Delfin site has been used as a service station or lubricant oil terminal for nearly 100 years, most recently by Shell Lubricants. Shell sold the plant to Chevron Corp. and closed its operation in December 2006, eliminating 76 jobs.

Delfin purchased the site late last year.

A company official said in January that the reopened plant would be capable of manufacturing more than 100 million gallons of petroleum products each year.

Reach Allyson Bird at 937-5594 or abird@postandcourier.com.