Piping hot Welspun

PIPING HOT

Welspun is a global industrial conglomerate that enjoys market leadership positions in virtually all its many business sectors. The company has seen expediential growth in its steel pipe business as well as in its infrastructure division. The group is headquartered in Mumbai, India and it continues to invest heavily in new technology and company acquisitions worldwide. Welspun is forecast to increase its turnover eight-fold over the next five years. Philip Yorke reports.

Welspun has come a long way from its early beginnings when its main activity was the manufacture of home textiles. Since then the company has supplied steel pipes for major companies in the oil and gas sectors that include Chevron, Saudi Aramco and Kinder Morgan. In fact such has been the success of its pipeline division that some years ago, the private equity company Apollo Global management invested $500 million to meet Welspun’s immediate funding needs and to help it to implement its ambitious growth plans.

Headquartered in Mumbai, India, the Welspun Group has numerous global operations that span Europe, the Middle East and South America. Today Welspun is active in a diverse range of business activities including textiles, steel, line pipes, infrastructure, oil and gas.

In addition, the company is involved with the majority of the ‘Fortune 100’ companies. The company was founded in 1985 by the entrepreneur and current chairman, B K Goenka, who has brought Welspun from a small retail towel business to a well-recognised global leader.

From strength to strength

Following the purchase of the UK-based towelling products company Christy, Welspun moved up a gear to expand further into the manufacture of large welded steel pipes and has since become India’s premier exporter and number two in the world in this sector. In another bold move, the company entered into the engineering and construction sector by acquiring a majority stake in MSK, a major player in the Indian construction market and this was followed in the same year by the acquisition of Leighton Construction, another major player in the Indian construction market. Leighton is a technology leader in the offshore oil and gas industry with a particular emphasis on complex tunnels and it is the steel pipes business that has proven to be the most successful for Welspun.

In November 2015 Welspun Corp Ltd (WCL), the flagship company of the $3 billion Welspun Group, announced its consolidated financial results for the half year ended 30 September 2015. Growth was a significant 270 per cent year on year with total income of Rs. 25.033 million. Commenting on the results, Mr B.K. Goenka, chairman of the Welspun Group, said, “Despite sluggishness in energy prices and related slowdown in project spending, we continue to find opportunities due to our global scale and reach across major markets. Outlook across the Americas and a few other markets has been positive and has enabled a healthy order book. This coupled with our continued focus on cost-optimisation and strengthening financials makes us ideally poised for the challenges ahead.”

Comprehensive pipe solutions

The Welspun Corporation is a one-stop service provider that offers complete pipe solutions with an unrivalled capability to manufacture pipes ranging from half an inch to 140 inches, along with highly

specialised coatings, double jointing and bending. With a current capacity of more than 2400 million MTPA in Dahej, Anjar and Mandya in India, as well as Little Rock in the USA and Dammam in Saudi Arabia, Welspun takes pride in being the preferred supplier to most of the Fortune 100 oil and gas companies.

With its unique portfolio of products and extensive experience, Welspun has undertaken some of the world’s most challenging marine and land-based projects in different parts of the world. The company is investing heavily in new technology and cutting edge manufacturing processes, which are supported by its own state-ofthe-art facilities and global operations. Welspun’s Line Pipe industry caters for the needs of energy and water resource management companies, where its special line-pipes are used to construct crosscountry pipelines for the transportation of oil, gas, petro-products and water in the safest and most environmentally friendly manner,

Demand for pipelines remains strong and over the last few years, energy usage patterns have seen a significant shift in favour of natural gas and away from oil. Welspun’s domestic pipe market

remains strong and is dominated by the transmission of water supply projects. Demand for water in the MENA region is being driven by multiple geographical levers that include Iraq and parts of Africa. In addition, the project work that commenced recently on both gas and water pipeline projects in Saudi Arabia has added significantly to its leadership in pipeline technology

Global, local focus

The future for Welspun looks positive and going forward the company plans to continue with its policy of globalisation in order to increase its local presence. This is particularly true concerning the supply of steel pipes for the oil and gas sector. This makes good business sense when considering that the company’s competition is decreasing as the market itself demands more specialised steel pipe products.

To facilitate this on-going shift in market forces, Welspun is decentralising its management structure to a regional, more local level in all its broad geographical markets. The company is also dedicated to providing the customers with these exclusive projects a total solutions package, which includes complete supply chain solutions. In turn this means that the final product will be delivered directly to Welspun’s client’s premises wherever they may be. n

For further details of Welspun’s innovative range of products and services visit: www.welspun.com