Alhamrani-Fuchs Petroleum has said it is targeting sales of 75,000 tonnes this year, 60 per cent of which will be automotive products and the remainder industrial.

The company produces engine oils for both diesel and gasoline engines, hydraulic and automotive oils, industrial grades and speciality products.
During 2007, the company achieved total sales of SR751 million ($200.2 million), of which exports accounted for SR212 million. Export destinations are the GCC region and countries adjoining it and Africa.
“We are making big efforts to increase our share in the region and we are providing sales, marketing and technical support to our distributors in the region, the deputy general manager for industrial and commercial sales Sohail Shahid Khan said.
Outside the GCC, sales are highest in North Africa, Khan said. Alhamrani-Fuchs has opened new distributorships in Libya and Tunisia.
“We signed contracts for lube supplies with Bechtel, Saudi Electricity Company and some new cement and steel plants in Saudi Arabia,” said Khan.
The official said the company was expanding its plant facilities at a total cost of $4 million. “A lot of previously imported grades of lubricants are being manufactured locally now, which is a big saving in time and money,” he added.
The company uses base oil procured from within Saudi Arabia itself. Additives required for the production process are procured locally or imported while packaging products are sourced locally.
Commented Khan: “Inspite of the challenges we are facing due to raw material shortages and the unstable prices of these raw materials, our market is growing, both locally and internationally.”
The company has a subsidiary in Dubai called Fuchs Oil Middle East Limited (Fomel), whose operations cover 27 countries.
The Alhamrani Group has been in the lubricants business since 1979 but it was only in 1995 that it entered into a joint venture with Fuchs Petrolub AG of Germany to establish Alhamrani-Fuchs Petroleum Saudi Arabia. Fuchs is the world’s leading specialist lubricants company having over 9,000 products in its portfolio. It owns 30 lube oil blending plants and 13 grease plants around the world.
“The experience and knowledge of our specialists, along with the technical support of Fuchs Petrolub, ensures our products meet the highest technical specifications,” a company spokesman says.
“State-of-the-art production facilities, certified to ISO 9002, guarantee a quality level that satisfies our customers’ demands. Our research centres are working on innovative and flexible solutions to develop new specifications to meet the increasing demand for better and more efficient products.
“All our products are available from leading distributors and through our extensive supply network in the Middle East – Fomel.”
The manufacturing, training and development complex in Yanbu is said to be largest of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa, covering 100,000 sq m and comprising blending and grease manufacturing plants which have a blending capacity of 113,000 tonnes and 7,000 tonnes respectively in a 14-hour shift, making it the largest facility of its kind anywhere in the region.
The company launched its one-stop car-care centres in 1999 to provide a new standard of professional and personalised service in pleasant surroundings. The company has 24 such centres and plans to add three this year.
“The Mena region, with so much development and infrastructure work underway, still has enormous potential for us,” said Mezahem Basrawi, chief operating officer of Alhamrani-Fuchs and Fomel, during Fomel’s 10th anniversary celebrations last year.
“There is huge scope for further expansion of the Fuchs brand, as our lubricant products are essential in literally hundreds of applications, from cars and motorcycles through to haulage, passenger transportation, the steel and mining industries, vehicle manufacturing and agriculture and construction businesses. In all of these market sectors, lubricants are vital to ensure continued and efficient operations, which is why we have placed such strong emphasis on client service and rapid response. We are totally focused on the challenges and opportunities that face us over the coming decade and continue to identify further innovative approaches that will cement our market leadership position.”