The country's largest lubricant company MJL Bangladesh, formerly known as Mobil Jamuna Lubricant, will buy an oceangoing oil tanker vessel for Tk185 crore, or $22 million, to expand its business and reduce costs.
Currently, the company has two oil tankers. It uses the vessels to transport its own raw materials and also rents them out to other institutions such the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation.
MJL will now sell one of the two vessels for Tk68 crore or $8.02 million because of its age, increasing maintenance cost and anticipated dry dock cost.
"The new vessel, with the capacity of 1.15 lakh tonnes, will help increase the company's net profit," said an official.
MJL Bangladesh, is an authorized manufacturer and dealer of American multinational oil and gas corporation Exxon Mobil, and a joint venture between state-owned Jamuna Oil Company and EC Securities Limited, a subsidiary of the East Coast Group.
The journey of blending lubricants in Bangladesh started in 1998 when the Exxon Mobil Corporation decided to set up Mobil Jamuna Lubricants Limited in partnership with the Jamuna Oil Company.
MJL, with a 26% market share, is a major player in the country's lubricants business.
Its revenue earnings from lubricants went down by 9% to Tk526.37 crore in the first three quarters of the 2019-20 financial year.
According to the MJL financial report, quick rental power plants and automobiles are the major customers of the company.
