Indian lubes producer, Tide Water Oil Co, is set to establish its first European operation.
Tide Water, which is part-state-owned and part-controlled by the Kolkata-based Andrew Yule Group, owns and markets the Veedol lubricants brand. It bought the Veedol company and brand from BP at the end of last year. Now, Tide Water plans to set up a production plant in Germany early in 2013, although were coy about the cost and scale of the investment.
The company has already started exporting Veedol lubes to Nepal and Bangladesh and is currently rolling the brand out in Western Asia via its Dubai-based Veedol International DMCC operation. Tide Water made it clear last year that it was looking to grow by acquisition, but the German investment is almost certainly an early indicator of a drive to push the Veedol brand into European markets.
Veedol offers a range of lubes for car and truck engines as well as gear and motorcycle oils, industrial fluids and greases. Tidal has five lube processing plants in India with a combined capacity of 88,000kl of oil and 4,400mt of grease. It also holds the Indian franchise for Nippon Lubricants' Eneos brands.