Thailand’s Mahaphant Group to invest $20M in PH manufacturing plant

MANILA, Philippines – The Mahaphant Group of Thailand is investing $20 million in a manufacturing facility in the Philippines.

One of Thailand’s largest manufacturers of fiber cement products under the SHERA brand, and the largest non-asbestos fiber cement producer in Asia, said the planned investment in the country would be the company’s first outside of Thailand.

The company is eyeing the Philippines to become another export base as it consolidates some of its production in Thailand, Veerasak Kittinanthakool, Mahaphant Group vice president for international business said on Friday, November 28.

Mahaphant now has 15% to 20% of the market and sold $10 million in 2013, aiming to up this to $14 million this year and to $20 million in 2015.

The Mahaphant Group opened its first office in the Philippines in May this year. This first phase of the firm’s expansion in the country has already opened ample opportunities to Mahaphant in terms of consumer and market support for branding, marketing, and technical services.

Thus, Mahaphant intends to expand further its local operations and penetrate more territories in the Philippines.

The fiber cement manufacturing plant in Luzon, planned to be operational by 2017, is already underway, with the preliminary feasibility study for the facility set to be completed before 2014 ends.

Mahaphant will then tap international consultants to conduct a full-scale study, expected to be completed by mid-2015.

With the local production, Mahaphant plans to source most of its raw materials like cement and sand from local sources and import some of the pulp fiber.

Mahaphant targets to be the market leader in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which it believes has a potential of $5billion in the next 3 to 5 years, Kittinanthakool said.

Mahaphant Group has also enjoyed continued local recognition for its “high-quality and environmentally-friendly” offerings under the SHERA brand.

SHERA’s expanded presence in the Philippines also contributes to the company’s growth in ASEAN. Offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam were also established this year, and two additional outposts are also set to be opened in Myanmar and Cambodia in 2015. – Rappler.com



Cement manufacturing plant image from Shutterstock