HPCL to expand lubricant sales to Nepal and Bhutan

After launching in Myanmar last month, state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), India’s third-largest fuel retailer, announced that it will soon launch its finished lubricants products in neighboring Nepal and Bhutan, as well as resume sales in Bangladesh.

“We are looking at expanding the market for products which is more profitable than selling base oil,” HPCL Chairman M.K. Surana told Times of India. HPCL operates India’s largest base oil refinery and its base oils and finished lubricants business account for nearly 25% of the company’s profits.

HPCL’s Director of Marketing S. Jeyakrishnan said that the company is now in the process of identifying dealers in these new markets.

HPCL reported a net profit of INR1,735 crores (USD266.3 million) in the second quarter ending Sept. 30, 2017, from INR701 crores (USD107.6 million), up by 147% over the same period a year ago, due to higher refinery margins and inventory gains. Gross sales rose 13% to INR54,153 crores (USD8.3 billion) from INR47,750 crores (USD7.3 billion) during the same period.

Domestic sales in the second quarter of 2017 came to 8.37 million metric tonnes (MMT), up 4% from the same period a year ago. While export sales only came to 0.36 MMT, sales outside of India was up 125% in the second quarter of 2017 from the same period a year ago.