Malaysian can maker to invest US$39m in Asean can factories

Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd (KJCF) plans to invest US$39 million to set up slim can production facilities in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam over the next two-years, said managing director Datuk Anthony See Teow Guan.
The company plans to install 2-piece aluminium can-making production lines in Jakarta, Bangkok and HCM City.
“Growth (for production) has been tremendous because of the export market,” See said after the company AGM in Batu Caves, Selangor yesterday June 12. He added that the company hoped to have the first production line in Vietnam up and running by next year, followed by Indonesia and Thailand the year after.
He said the new plants would make it cheaper and faster for KJCF to meet the demand for cans from these countries.
See said a single production line could produce 250 million to 300 million cans per year.
“We will start with one production line in each country,” he said adding that the expansion will be financed by the company.
He said Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand had good business potential because they were growing markets. The company hopes to recoup its investment in five years once all plants in the three countries are fully operational.
“We have secured export orders of more that 300 million 2-piece aluminium cans valued at RM90mil this year,” See said, citing that around 30% of the order volume was from Saudi Arabia.
Local production lines are running at full capacity, producing 300 million cans annually and plans are under way to upgrade production capacity next year. See said the upgrade would cost around US$300,000 and will increase output capacity by an additional 100 million cans annually.
For the financial year ended December 31, 2004, the company reported a pre-tax profit of RM56.5mil on the back of RM575mil in revenue. For the first quarter of 2005, it reported a pre-tax profit of RM20.5mil.

 

Category: Business