Japans Moresco Corp. started construction of a lubricant blending plant in India this month, and completion is expected early next year, a company spokesman told Lube Report Asia.
The 1 billion (U.S. $9 million) plant located in Ahmedabad city in western India will manufacture lubricants and other products used in motorcycle and automotive manufacturing, including die casting mold release lubricants, lubricants for hot forging, metal cutting fluids and hot melt adhesives. The plants total annual capacity for lubricants and hot melt adhesives will be 10,000 tons.
The construction includes manufacturing, office and storage facilities, and in the future we plan to expand to meet business and production needs, said the spokesman, who asked not to be identified. The company targets annual sales from the new plant to reach 2 billion by 2022.
The company has been importing its products from Thailand for its customers in India and in January last year set up a new subsidiary, Moresco India Private Ltd., in Pinnacle Business Park in Ahmedabad.
Moresco also produces synthetic high-temperature lubricating oils and greases, hard disk surface lubricants and other products. The company claims to have about a 50 percent share of the Japanese market for die casting liquids and about a 70 percent share of the domestic market for its fire-resistant hydraulic fluids.
Moresco, a listed company in Japan, expects total sales of lubricants for financial year 2017 to reach 15.5 million, increasing by 5.2 percent to 16.3 million in financial year 2018.