Shell Lubricants to lean on smaller business segments to achieve target

Plans to hike share in petrochemicals, fertilisers, textiles, defence from less than 1% to 3-5%

Shell Lubricants is planning to focus on some of the segments where it has comparitively less presence so far, in order to achieve its target of becoming the largest international lubricant player in the country in the next three years.

The company is already a leading player in wind turbines, construction and general manufacturing, but has a small presence, with less than one per cent market share, in segments such as petrochemicals, fertilisers, textiles and defence. The plans are to increase the market share in these sectors to five per cent in next three years, said Siva Kasturi, global OEM Manager-India and South East Asia, Shell Lubriants.

"At this point of time we are heavily focusing on general manufacturing, construction and power. We wanted to continue our technology leadership with expanding our focus primarily in the defence application and we want to focus more on mining and power business as well," he said.

In industrial lubriants market, the company has a five per cent marketshare in India. National oil companies are the major players in this segment as of now. The company is working with around 400-500 OEMs in the country.

In order to increase its market share across the sectors, the company is working on various activities including campaign among its customers on aspects such as total cost of ownership, where the company claims an advantage. Kasturi said that the lack of awareness on the total cost of ownership is a factor in companies spending more money on their equipment.Shell Lubricants is planning to focus on new segments to achieve its target of becoming the largest international player in the country in the next three years.

The company is a leading player in wind turbines, construction and general manufacturing, while it has a small presence, in petrochemicals, fertilisers, textiles and defence.

The plans are to increase market share in these segments to 5 per cent in three years, according to Siva Kasturi, global OEM Manager, India and Southeast Asia, Shell Lubricants.

"We are focusing on general manufacturing, construction and power. We want to continue our technology leadership in defence and we want to focus more on mining and power," he said.

The company has a 5 per cent market share in industrial lubricants. The state-owned oil companies dominate this segment.

Shell is working on a campaign to highlight total cost of ownership, where the company claims an advantage. Kasturi said lack of awareness about the total cost of ownership was a reason why companies spent more on their equipment.