German independent lubricants blender Fuchs Petrolub SE announced on March 12 a joint venture in Egypt with longtime partner Alhamrani Group of Saudi Arabia to expand Fuchs’ presence in the African market.
Fuchs Egypt Lubricants LLC is a startup sales company that has its main offices and a central warehouse in Cairo. It will import its products from Saudi Arabia and Europe.
“Egypt is one of the three largest economies in Africa by [gross domestic product], and one of the most industrialized markets on the continent,” Alf Untersteller, responsible for Turkey, Africa and Middle East for the Fuchs Group, said in a news release. “Fuchs and our partner Alhamrani see Egypt as strategic, to operate closely with clients in fields like industrial, commercial fleet and automotive retail.”
Alhamrani Group has served as Fuchs’ partner for numerous operations across the Middle East and North Africa since the 1980s.
The new joint venture employs 23 and is already supplying key customers in Egypt.
In December 2019, Fuchs announced the acquisition of half the shares of three separate African lubricant distributors to strengthen its presence in the continent’s Sub-Saharan region. At the time, Fuchs said the three distributors – located in Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe – generated sales of approximately 21 million euros (then U.S. $23.2 million) in 2018. The acquisition of the 50% share in each distributor became effective Jan. 2, 2020. Lubricants distributed by Fuchs in Africa were manufactured at its South African operation.
Fuchs already operates an African entity, Fuchs Southern Africa. In 2014 it acquired three competitors in South Africa, and built a grease manufacturing plant in Johannesburg in 2018.