Singapore-based Petroleum Specialties Pte. Ltd., subsidiary of Mumbai-headquartered Apar Industries Limited, has opened a new 30,000 square metre white oils manufacturing operation in Sharjah’s Hamriyah Free Zone, UAE. The group’s first fully-owned factory outside of India, the new US$18 million (Dirham 66 million) Petroleum Specialities (FZE) unit will manufacture industrial white oils. The plant is located in close proximity to Sharjah city’s Hamriyah Port and the port’s main jetty. The new Petroleum Specialties unit has a developed area of 10,000 square meters.

Apar Industries Limited, with a turnover of about US$850 million, is the largest manufacturer of transformer oil, white oils, rubber process oils and lubricants (industrial & automotive) in India. Apar leads the Indian transformer oils market with about 50 percent marketshare and accounts for about 22 percent of India’s aluminium conductor market. GCC and African markets account for a large percentage of the group’s exports.

Hamriyah Free Zone houses over 6,500 companies from 157 countries, and has dedicated zones for Oil and Gas, and Petrochemicals to encourage investment from the sector. Petrochemical trading and logistic companies have announced new projects adding some 500,000 cubic metres of liquid storage terminal capacity at the free zone over the past 2-3 years.