The biggest lubricant producer in Bangladesh is taking a step that could allow it to expand sometime in the future.
MJL Bangladesh Plc signed a memorandum of understanding to purchase a 30-acre tract for future expansion, according to a notice filed Aug. 26 with the Dhaka Stock Exchange. An official told local news organization The Business Standard that the company has no immediate plan for the property but that it made the purchase because of its attractive location.
The site, being sold by Taj Jute Mills, is located in Narayanganj, Bangladesh, on the River Shitalakshya, a waterway that carries enough commercial traffic, including vessels carrying bulk goods, to help make the city a thriving industrial hub.
MJL’s noticed stated that it will complete the purchase if due diligence shows the property’s condition is as it appears. The company has agreed to a price of 95 crore taka (Tk950 million or U.S. $8.6 million). MJL previously purchased another nearby river plot that it has yet to use.
MJL operates a single lubricant blending plant, 240 kilometers to the south in Chattogram, on the Bay of Bengal. That plant has production capacity of 150,000 metric tons per year, making it the largest lube plant in the country.
MJL is a joint venture between state-owned Jamuna Oil Co. and East Coast Group. Jamuna’s original partner was Mobil Corp., which established the company in order to produce and market Mobil-branded lubricants. MJL still does that but now also makes and markets lubes under its own Omeara brand. In recent years the company has diversified into other businesses such as the supply of liquefied petroleum gas.