Chevron Lubricants eyes significant growth in exports to Bangladesh, Maldives

• Total export revenue increased to Rs.1.28bn in 2019, from Rs.1.08bn in 2018
• Company has 3% market share in B’desh lubricants market

Sri Lanka’s lubricant market leader, Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC, plans to grow its exports aggressively to Bangladesh and the Maldives, as the export volumes to Bangladesh hit an all-time high in 2019.

The company recorded an 18 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in exports to Bangladesh in 2019, which was also the highest volume level recorded for export sales to Bangladesh.
Chevron Lubricant Lanka is one of the few companies doing lubricant blending in Sri Lanka, among the 13 registered market players. 

The growth in Bangladesh stemmed mainly from the retail sector, backed by a series of trade promotions and particularly, through the growth in sales recorded in gas engine oils. 
“One of the key drivers of growth in Bangladesh during the year was gas engine oils, which was enabled by a series of technical seminars conducted during the early part of the year, for the customers by technical experts from Chevron. This programme yielded rich dividends, evidenced by the strong growth we recorded by the end of the year on gas engine oils,” the company stated. 

However, the company’s commercial and industry sales in Bangladesh were hit by reduced consumption from the power generation sector, due to overcapacity and the Bangladeshi government opting to purchase power from neighbouring India, rather than from in-country private sector producers.

The company, which markets lubricants under the Caltex brand, has a 3 percent market share in Bangladesh’s lubricant market. 

Meanwhile, the company’s export volumes to the Maldives declined by 12 percent YoY in 2019, due to distribution issues during the period.

Despite the decline experienced in the Maldives, the total combined export revenue from the exports segment reached Rs.1.28 billion in 2019, from Rs.1.08 billion in 2018, due to incremental export volumes to Bangladesh and the favourable effects of rupee depreciation against the US dollar.