The increase in oil and gas drilling operations is primarily driving the growth of the worldwide barite market. Furthermore, the increased use of Barite as a weighting agent in oil well drilling fluids to offset specific pressures caused by well drilling activities substantially adds to market growth.
Increased offshore oil and gas drilling operations, as well as increased investment by major oil firms in deep and ultra-deep offshore exploration, are projected to boost market growth over the projection period. Barite is also utilised as a filler in the paint and coating industries. Thus, the worldwide barite market’s expansion may be ascribed to increased paint and coating usage in the construction, automotive, and general sectors.
One company that is contributing to the barite industry is Emprada Mines and Minerals Pvt. Ltd. Emprada is the manufacturer, supplier, exporter of Barite. The Barite manufactured in the company is sustainable, pure, economical, and reliable.
Emprada is an API Certified company that directly sources from the world’s single largest barite mine extended over 225 hectares with more than 50 million tons of reserves and specializes in providing high-quality Barite Powder (up to 96% BaSO4) without any toxic materials to its clients. It is of premium quality and purity, which makes it all the more appreciable.
The Barite Barons
“We conduct strict quality tests in our API Certified laboratory to ensure the delivery of high-quality Barite Powder as per the API 13A and other industrial standards,” says Vikram Akepati, President and CEO of the company. Established in 2016 and headquartered in Austin, TX, USA along with having a production plant in Andhra Pradesh, India with over 85 full-time resources, it has made exponential development in the exports of Barite.
Its exports raised from 7000 MTS in 2016 to 500,000 MTS in 2021-22. Barite is majorly used in Oil and Gas companies as a drilling mud during oil drilling. Barite exports are one of the many other potential areas that took shape over the years. Vikram envisions huge potential in Specialty Metals, Industrial Chemicals, Drilling Fluids related to this industry.
The company serves the global majors in this field in over 20 countries across 5 continents. “We commit to the quality and delivery of what we agree upon,” explains the team of Emprada. The company adheres to the highest industry quality standards (API Spec 13A) and globally accepted 3rd party quality analysis companies to test and certify its products before delivery. The global expertise gained from Vikram’s corporate background is helping to gain an extra edge over other existing competitors.
Dynamics of Emprada
Having worked and settled in the USA for over 15 years, the thought of changes that can be brought about in Vikram’s hometown made him research the potential options nearby. Expertise gained in any job/industry should be fluidic and should be utilized to bring about an impact on others. Long-timers become complacent with the existing system/working style and do not easily adapt to the inevitable changes forced by technology. “This is the time for the Nex-Gen folks to step up and revolutionize traditional business practices,” he conveys.
Emprada is one of the last companies to enter into this business when the global market for Barite has been in a downtrend. There have been quite a few established companies that had a market share of over 90% and have been in business for more than forty years. But with the new age practices, effective client engagement, strategic initiatives focusing on quality and delivery, the company was able to penetrate and capture about 25% of the market share in just four years and opened new avenues as well.
It was not easy to compete with companies that were established forty years ago and who knows the business in and out. It was difficult to leverage expertise and manpower to succeed among any other upcoming competitors. Initially, when Emprada started, it struggled to bag an order to produce 4000 MTS per year. But down the line after Four years it was able to produce and export over 5,00,000 MTS per year. “All our clients have been so supportive to us and had great faith. For us the volume of the order is secondary, we had designed a seamless system to execute orders of any complexity and quantity. And it was not a smooth journey either. The Pandemic destroyed the international market completely. However, with our strong basics, we were able to withstand and overcome this.” Explains Vikram.
Being in a stagnated market, this growth itself proves to be a big achievement altogether. In an established business with cutthroat competition, the only edge that Emprada has over others is dynamic leadership, vision and doing things differently. It has set up a State of the Art API Certified (Best in the industry) Quality Analysis Lab with qualified analysts to perform rigorous testing on the material to qualify for exports.
“We keep a close watch on the changing industry trends by attending industry conferences and following the business magazines,” states Vikram. “We keep mining the data related to the exports, geographies, shipping companies and govt/industrial policies,” further adds the team of Emprada.
Towards the Glory
The organization has evolved organically from three members to 85+ members. There is always that satisfaction to see locals get employed and guided in the right direction. Out of its regular pieces of training and quality policies, the company is now equipped with the knowledge and expertise to face the daily challenges and come up with an optimal solution. This inclusive growth is the secret of its success.
Keeping the employees’ needs addressed is the most crucial aspect for a growing company or for any company for that matter. “We all know the famous saying – ‘If you want to go fast, go alone and if you want to go far, go together. Unless you hear them out and address their issues and keep them motivated, visions do not turn into reality,” says the team of Emprada. The company provides periodic training and gives them challenging opportunities all the while helping them to perform better. Many a time, handholding might be required to make them learn and the company does not hesitate to extend this support to upskill them.
Glimpses of Seasoned Leadership
Vikram is a qualified Engineer who passed out of USNW, Australia. He has worked with Fortune 50 companies in the USA for more than fifteen years in decision making roles. “Corporate experience and global exposure helped me to gain the expertise to handle the international clients effectively,” he claims. Though, almost everyone working in the industry sources Barite from the same mine, the processes, quality aspects, seamless integration of different departments such as operations, logistics, port cargo handling, and export management has provided Vikram with the edge over others to provide real-time data and on-time delivery to the customers.
He has brought in the latest technology to replace age-old existing processes to improve the efficiency of the company’s operations. He considers two people his role models – Elon Musk of SpaceX and Ritesh Agarwal of Oyo Rooms. Vikram chose them because he believes that their rational thinking and progressive thoughts have made a difference in the world, which he wants to imbibe and implement. Advising the budding entrepreneurs, he concludes – “The new age entrepreneurs should be ‘Capitalist in mind and Communist at heart. Inclusive mindset would always fetch positive results.”
Distinguished Accomplishments
- Our exports are expected to cross 500000 MTS in FY 2021-22.
- Awarded ‘Star Export House Certification’ from Govt of India
- Awarded API Monogram – Spec 13A certification by American Petroleum Institute, USA (Highest recognized certifying agency for Barites in the world) for having the best quality process.
- Achieved ISO 9001- 2015, ISO 14001-2015, ISO 45001-2018 for our quality standards.
- 30 acres of the Production plant complex
- Supplying Barite to over 20+ destinations in 5 continents
- Built 6 manufacturing units and employed 85+ full-time employees. One of the highest in this business.
- Produces Drilling Grade Barite in various specializes such as Lumps/Ore, Powder, Micronized Barite with multiple grades including 4.22 SG, 4.2 SG, 4.1SG, 3.95+ SG etc
