Monthly Archives: August 2015
Extracted from Daily Mirror – 26th Aug 2015
The country’s largest privately held petroleum products distributor Lanka IOC foresees a pickup in the bitumen Sri Lanka market with the restart of several government projects.
“As Sri Lanka accelerates its developmental activities, including the construction and renovation of roads, demand for bitumen is set to increase. Therefore, I am hopeful of resurgence in demand for bitumen within the new financial year,” Lanka IOC Managing Director Subodh Dakwale said.
Though new road construction was halted for just 3 months, Lanka IOC had seen a steep contraction in the bitumen sector during the past financial year.
“With no road development activities by the government during the latter part of the financial year, the demand for Bitumen was severely impacted, causing overall volumes from this segment to contract by 44 percent year-on-year,” Dakwale said.
However, the oversupply of oil in the global market could spell greater profits for the bitumen sector going forward due to reduced cost of production, if retail prices are held up. Crude oil prices fell below US$40 per barrel this week for the first time since 2009.
Bitumen is a hydrocarbon binding material which has a wide variety of industrial applications including its use as a binding agent for road surfacing and waterproofing. It is obtained either naturally, or as a petroleum or coal by-product.
While Lanka IOC imports the bitumen it sells, state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has the largest bitumen market share through its residual production at the Sapugaksanda refinery.
Sri Lanka IOC providing quality engine oil in Sri Lanka, to enter Malaysia, Indonesia lubricant markets
August 27, 2015 11:15 am
ECONOMYNEXT
The Sri Lankan unit of Indian Oil Corporation plans to expand export markets and has said it will enter the Malaysian and Indonesian lubricant markets.
“Our growth plans have not been limited to the domestic market,” Lanka Indian Oil Corp. Managing Director Subodh Dakwale said.
LIOC has done a study on entering export markets with its premium lubricants and is currently testing the markets of Indonesia and Malaysia with the appointment of a small number of distributors for Lanka IOC lubricants.
“Plans for exporting lubricants will be unrolled during the year to test the markets of Indonesia and Malaysia,” Dakwale told shareholders in the company’s annual report.
“Although I do not anticipate significant revenue contributions from market development initiatives over the short term, I believe export markets will open up new revenue opportunities over the longer term.” (Colombo/August 25 2015)
Extracted from Daily News
Lanka IOC is planning on investing Rs. 400 million to add another 20 fuel stations to the current network, while also completing refurbishments of the existing fuel outlets, Lanka IOC Managing Director Subodh Dakwale said.
The company has also plans to export lubricants to test the markets of Indonesia and Malaysia.
The company’s market share of the lubricants sector will also be expanded through promotional campaigns by utilising the growing fuel station network as retail points. In this regard, extensive market surveys have already been conducted and revamped Lanka IOC lubricants will be launched in the new financial year(2015/2016). “Although I do not anticipate significant revenue contributions from market development initiatives over the short term, I believe export markets will open up new revenue opportunities over the longer term,”Dakwale said.
Lanka IOC bunkering operations are currently facing severe price competition from Indian ports that are able to offer lower prices due to domestic production of fuels, while Lanka IOC has to accommodate the additional costs related to fuel imports. However, he is hopeful that company’s technical expertise and extensive range of services will continue to provide a competitive advantage to ensure sustained revenue growth in the new financial year. (IH)