Outdoor cooling firm plans expansion to cut costs
Masterkool International Co, a firm specialising in outdoor water-mist cooling systems, plans to spend Bt60 million this year to increase its production capacity and create a domestic market among homeowners.
The company will invest Bt40 million to increase its production capacity from 1,500 units to 2,500 units per month, provided the Board of Investment approves tax incentives for its new production plant, which will be located at its existing manufacturing base at Panatnikrom Industrial Estate in Chon Buri province. The company has applied for BoI privileges and expects approval in the second half of the year. Masterkool's new manufacturing capacity will reduce the need to import equipment parts from the United States and Europe. Production costs will fall, as a consequence, by an average of 20 per cent, according to the company's managing director, Noppachai Veeraman. Forty per cent of the content of Masterkool's products is imported. After the new plant is built, foreign content will fall to 30 per cent. The company has also set aside Bt20-million for marketing to promote its products on the domestic market this year, by focusing on homeowners. At present, all of the company's customers, including 822 new customers last year, are in the manufacturing, restaurant and hotel industries. The company plans to broaden its appeal during the coming summer by launching a Master-kool kit for people who want to enhance their home garden and the atmosphere of their home by mist-cooling. It will offer a special price of Bt2,900 for a Masterkool kit with six-stream kits and Bt4,800 for 10-stream kits. Noppachai said the company expected to sell about 3,000 kits this year, contributing about Bt10 million to its estimated total sales of Bt170 million for 2006. Masterkool recorded sales of Bt130 million last year, up 63 per cent from Bt80 million in 2004. Its net profit last year was Bt5.2 million. Half of its sales came from direct marketing, 30 per cent was achieved through dealers and 20 per cent from exports. The company exports to the Middle East, Europe and Asian countries and plans to expand into Africa and Australia this year, Noppachai said. "The export market has potential for growth because our 'Masterkool' brand has after-sales service and offers prices about 20 per cent lower than our competitors," he said.
Somluck Srimalee The Nation
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