Fuchs completed an A $4.5 million (U.S. $4.1 million) warehouse facility in Melbourne, Australia, the first phase of an A $6 million plan to increase lubricant production capacity and efficiency there by the end of 2014.
Fuchs 5,000 square meter warehouse comes on the heels of other major investments in the region, including an A $2.5 million grease plant in 2010 and an A $1.5 million lubricant laboratory and technical center in 2011. The company expects sustained growth in Australia and New Zealand, and built the warehouse to meet future demand, Wayne Hoiles, Fuchs Lubricants Australasias managing director, said in a recent press release.
With 12 distribution centers in Australia and New Zealand, Fuchs is focusing on Australia as a prominent hub for lubricant research, development, and operations throughout the Asia Pacific region. The Australasian business plays such an important role in the Southeast Asian region, and we are consistently looking at ways to invest and improve efficiency in high-performing markets like Australia, said Dr. George Lingg, a Fuchs Petrolub AG executive board member responsible for the Asia Pacific and Africa regions.
Apu Gosalia, Fuchs head of global competitive intelligence, told Lube Report that Australias lubricant demand reached 432,837 metric tons in 2012. Automotive oils accounted for 225,941 tons, or 52.2 percent, of the countrys lubricant consumption, followed by industrial oils at 170,537 tons, or 39.4 percent. Other segments included metalworking fluids (including corrosion preventives) at 3.3 percent, greases at 3.1 percent and process oils at 2 percent.
|
Australia LubricantDemand (metric tons) |
||||||
| Year |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
| Demand |
430,000 |
435,000 |
409,485 |
418,494 |
427,282 |
432,837 |
| Source: Fuchs Global Competitive Intelligence | ||||||
Fuchs Lubricants Australasia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the family-owned Fuchs Petrolub SE of Mannheim, Germany. Fuchs Petrolub, founded in 1931, partnered with the Steel Improvement Co. based in Sunshine, Australia in 1980, of which it took total ownership in 1989. According to the company, its lubricant operations in Australia date back to 1890.