FUELS & LUBES INTERNATIONAL
Quarter Two 2015
20
MOST PEOPLE IN THE LUBRICANTS
INDUSTRY ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE
ADDITIVES INDUSTRY’S “BIG FOUR”:
INFINEUM, LUBRIZOL, CHEVRON
ORONITE AND AFTON CHEMICAL.
TOGETHER, THESE FOUR DOMINATE
85% OF THE ADDITIVE PACKAGE
MARKET IN TERMS OF VOLUME,
ACCORDING TO G.S. RAVI, CEO OF
CHINA’S TIANHE CHEMICALS. TIANHE
HOPES TO EMERGE AS A FIFTH
MAJOR PLAYER AND BECOME A
HOUSEHOLD NAME.
F E A T U R E
By Alison Gaines
Tianhe Chemicals discloses
plans that will catapult it to the
“BIG FIVE”
TIANHE CHEMICALS WAS
established in 1992. Twenty years
later, in 2012, Morgan Stanley
invested USD 300 million in
the company, helping Tianhe to
gain global traction. In 2013, its
lubricant additives and specialty
fluorocarbons divisions combined
had a revenue of HKD 6.35
billion (USD 820 million). In June
2014, the company went public
and raised HKD 5.07 billion
(USD 650 million) through an
initial public offering. A recent
report valued the company at
USD 3.7 billion.
According to Ravi, Tianhe has
been a supplier to two of China’s
major oil companies, Sinopec and
Petrochina, since 1995, selling
primarily additive components
and some packages.
In order to compete with
the Big Four, Ravi said, Tianhe
needed to start producing
packages because most of the
additives business today lies in
selling “addpacks” or the “secret
sauce,” rather than components.
Thus, the company began
producing packages about two
years ago. “It’s a patent minefield
out there,” said Ravi.
Two of Tianhe’s main focuses
going forward are strengthening
its own intellectual property (IP)
and developing novel technology
that does not infringe on the
IP of others. In the past year, it
has secured 11 patents and has
