Chevron Lubricants regains market share in 3Q while competitors lose out

• Increases market share to 47% from 35% three months ago
• No.2 player IOC had a market share of 20%; ExxonMobil placed third with market share of 6%
• SL’s lubricant market size comes to about 18,000 kiloliters per quarter

Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC, Sri Lanka’s lubricant market leader, delivered a strong performance in the third quarter last year by substantially regaining its market share from its closest competitors.

The lubricant market shadow regulator, Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), this week released the third quarter (3Q21) lubricant market data for the industry, which showed that Chevron had recouped its market share to 47.32 percent from 35.06 percent in the second quarter in 2021 and 41.51 percent a year.  

This was reflected in the firm’s fiscal third quarter financial performance, as it reported 44 percent growth in revenues and 27 percent increase in the profits. 

The company sells its lubricant products under multiple global brands such as Caltex, Texaco and its namesake brand, Chevron.  

Chevron is expected to report strong earnings for the final quarter of 2021, as the period saw some resurgence in economic activities after the pandemic related restrictions were gradually lifted and people started freely moving about. 

Sri Lanka’s lubricant market size comes to about 18,000 kiloliters per quarter. 
Meanwhile, the second placed Lanka IOC PLC had 20.10 percent market share by the end of the third quarter, slipping from 23.08 percent it had in the second quarter, but slightly up from 19.42 percent in the year earlier period. 

ExxonMobil Asia Pacific (Pvt) Limited, which imports and sells lubricants via its local nominee McLarens Lubricants Limited had a share of 5.90 percent by the end of third quarter, down from 9.54 percent in the second quarter. However its share was still up from the 4.73 percent from a year ago.

Despite the quarter-on-quarter decline in the market share, ExxonMobil in fact managed to push the third placed Laugfs Lubricants down to the fourth spot. 

Laugfs Lubricants had a market share of 5.65 percent by the end of third quarter, down from 10.5 percent in the second quarter and 10.74 percent a year ago.

The State-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation was placed fifth with a market share of 4.73 percent, up from 3.95 percent in the second quarter, but down from 6.54 percent in the same quarter in 2020. 

Lubricant sales are a close proxy for travelling and transport activities in an economy and how dynamic its industrial activity, including power generation.