Baluchistan Wheels Limited (BWHL) started its journey in 1980 in the collaboration of GKN Sankey Limited UK. The company built its plant in the industrial zone of Hub for the manufacturing of steel wheels for automobiles. With the capability to manufacture a diverse range of wheels for passenger cars, commercial vehicles, agricultural tractors and 4x4 vehicles BWHL, the firm become a serious player in the auto part industry of Pakistan.
BWHL plant that has a covered area of 16,000 square meters built on a land of 97,000 square meters is one of the modern facilities in the industry. It's well equipped with facilities comprising of the material preparation line, heavy and light duty rim lines, a press line having presses of up to 1500-ton capacity, an assembly and welding line with CO2 and submerged arc welding machines.
The company's manufacturing is complemented by two paint shops with seven stages pre-treatment system, and a Cathodic Electro Deposition painting process using latest paints from Kansai Paint Co Japan. Specialised facilities for pickling and oiling, shot blasting tool, repairing and quality testing/inspection also exist at the firm. The company is a corresponding member of European Tyre & Rim Technical Organisation (ETRTO,) and its quality management system is certified for ISO-9002 by AIB Vincotte of Belgium.
BWHL caters some of the major companies in Pakistan like PSMC, INDU, HCAR, DFML, Nexus Automotive, Sigma Motors, Adam Motors, Hinopak, GHNL, GHNI, Sindh Engineering, Master Motors, Afzal Motors, AGTL, MTL, etc.
Auto vendors sector in Pakistan
At the moment, Pakistan is a part of top 40 automobile producing countries; it is manufacturing automobiles in all five categories ie passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, motorcycles, trucks, buses, and tractors. Baluchistan Wheels (BWHL), Thal Ltd (THALL), Agriauto (AGIL), and Synthetic Product (SPEL) are leaders and listed companies.
The sector faces multiple challenges, but according to Standard Capital Securities the biggest problem is Pakistan-China FTA as many of the vendors are seeking technical assistance from Japanese corporations wherein Chinese parts could be cheaper. Likewise, auto vendors are threatened by weakening Pakistani Rupee against Japanese Yen, loose import policy on part of the government, and OEM's hold over various auto policies.