Lubricants company Fuchs Lubricants Southern Africa (Fuchs SA) has done “extremely well” in the local market in the past year, partly owing to its acquisition of local lubricants company Lubritene at the end of 2014, says Fuchs SA commercial sales manager Andrew Cowling.

Fuchs SA is a subsidiary of Germany-based independent specialist lubricants manufacturer Fuchs Petrolub.

Cowling tells Engineering News that the Lubritene acquisition has “opened new avenues” in the market of speciality mining grease while also creating opportunities to cross-sell to Lubritene’s existing client base and vice versa.

“Despite the tough local environ- ment, our business continues to grow in South Africa and the African region,” he adds.

Fuchs services the automotive, mining, construction and industrial sectors with a range of lubricants.

First-Time Exhibitors
Fuchs SA will exhibit at construction and mining trade fair BAUMA CONEXPO AFRICA 2015 for the first time. It will take place at the Johannesburg Expo Centre from September 15 to 18.

“Our aim is to increase exposure and market share through events like this and to provide opportunities for Fuchs to expand its African footprint,” says Cowling.

Fuchs currently operates in South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia.

Fuchs SA will display some of its mining industry oil, lubricants and greases at BAUMA, including its Titan Cargo MC 10W-40, which is a long-life, fuel-economy engine oil for all diesel engines, which can be used in engines with or without a turbocharger. This product is suitable for trucks, buses and industrial machinery.

This lubricant is approved by standards organisation the Society of Automotive Engineers as a 10W-40 specified oil. It ensures reliable all-season use, providing long oil-change intervals and cold-starting capabilities, while reducing overall oil consumption. The oil was developed for use in the latest off-highway mining equipment to provide extended drain intervals.

Fuchs SA also supplies Titan UTTO ZF, a specialised universal tractor transmission oil for ZF axles that have limited slip differentials and axles that operate under high thermal conditions in the mining and construction industries in Africa.

The transmission oil also improves wear protection, and reduces noise and shudder in wet brake systems.

Fuchs’s Renolit Lubrene LMG 960 EP grease was developed for use on pins and bushes in large earthmoving equipment used in the mining and heavy industrial markets, especially major hydraulic excavators. The grease is manu- factured using a semisynthetic base oil for improved pumpability performance in colder weather and incorporates a heavy base oil to enhance load-carrying capability.

The grease’s base oil has solid additives that increase its load- carrying and extreme-pressure capabilities.

Cowling attributes Fuchs SA’s success to its use of “cutting-edge technology” in product development and testing, its solution-orientated approach to customer issues and its wide product portfolio. “Our products are carefully formulated in partnership with various original-equipment manufacturers and tested at our testing facilities, as well as in the field.”

Meanwhile, Fuchs SA has participated in many Electra Mining events, but aims to reach a different target audience with its debut at BAUMA CONEXPO AFRICA 2015, where the company “will meet with current and prospective customers and, as always, aim to add value to their businesses”, says Cowling.

Fuchs SA will have technical and sales representatives at BAUMA to meet potential new clients and attend to visitor queries.