Gulf Oil forays into China

Gulf Oil (GULF.BO, news) Corporation, a Hinduja Group company, has entered Chinese market with its lubricants. The board today approved the acquisition of 51 per cent of Gulf Oil Yantai (Co) Ltd. This is the company's third overseas venture. It has presence in Bangladesh and Indonesia. Gulf Oil Yantai has manufacturing and marketing operations in the Yantai city, Shandong Province of China. The company intends to set up a new manufacturing facility, in an economic zone, with an installed capacity of 30,000 tonne per annum. The proposed new plant will not only cater to the Chinese market, but also supply lubricants to Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam and Japan. The company is also planning to set up large base oil storage capacity in China and will trade in base oils. China, with a lubricant market potential of 4.3 million tonne per annum, is amongst the largest lubricant markets globally. It is expected to grow at the rate of five per cent to 5.5 million tonne in 2010 and to 6.3 million tonne in 2013, according to the company's press release. Subhas Pramanik, managing director of Gulf Oil Corporation said, "This acquisition is in line with the company's policy of aggressively expanding into growing markets of Asia Pacific (ASPI.BO, news) ." "The company is also looking at the possibility of further forays into the regional markets to consolidate the position of Gulf brand in the Asia Pacific region, with India as the hub," he added.

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