Pidilite Industries, which owns the Fevicol brand, is planning to set up a manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia. With this, the firm wants to increase the contribution to sales from overseas market to 10 per cent.
“We have decided to come up with a plant in Saudi Arabia, as part of our aggressive overseas expansion plans. However, we have not yet decided a timeline or the size of the plant, as it depends on the economic conditions and demand in that country,” said Manab Ghosh, president (business Development) of Fevicol division, Pidilite Industries. Currently, Pidilite has presence in 55 countries through exports and through subsidiaries like Pidilite International, Pidilite Middle East, Pidilite USA and Pidilite Do Brazil Desenvolvimento De Negocios.
It has manufacturing facilities in countries like Bangladesh, Dubai and Egypt. “With the sort of expansion plans, the share of overseas market will soon touch 10 per cent of our overall sales. We are also looking at inorganic growth too,” he said. Though he did not specify the location that the company is looking into, Ghosh indicated that Pakistan is one such market that the firm is looking to enter.
Pidilite, which claims to enjoy an 85 per cent market share in the premium segment in the country, has a turnover of Rs 2,500 crore, and in planning to expand its presence by launching “3-4 products” this financial year. “It would be in the mass-market category, like carpentry and polish,” Ghosh said. Fevicol, which is the largest selling brand of adhesives in the country, had recently launched ‘Fevicol Marine’ foraying into the waterproof adhesive category.
The firm, celebrating 50 years, had posted a 25 per cent growth in value and 20 per cent volume last year. “Due to the slowdown in the construction business, we expect it to affect our growth to a minimal . Inflationary pressure is impacting the consumption as our sales contribution comes from household,” he added. In India, the firm has five manufacturing facilities with two major ones in Himachal Pradesh and one at Badri in Maharashtra. Other than Fevicol, its major brands include M Seal, FeviKwik, Fevistik, Roff, Dr.Fixit, Sargent Arts, Hobby Ideas and Cyclo.