Sylvania building Bt50m factory
A presenter shows the latest Sylvania model ‘Sylvania Super Lux Light Plus’ at Sofitel Central Ladprao yesterday. The company is in the midst of a large expansion in Bangkok and is considering a plant in Vietnam.
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US-based lamp-maker Sylvania (Thailand) Co Ltd expects its exports to grow by up to 20 per cent within the next three years as it takes advantage of reduced duties under the Asean Free Trade Agreement.
Exports to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines accounted for 10 per cent of its Bt600 million in sales last year. Poomthep Malakul, the company's general manager, said Sylvania might also increase its prices by an average of 5 per cent in the second half of this year to account for production cost increases of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent since last year. Prices of its main raw materials are plastic, copper and glass have also climbed. "We have tried to maintain our product prices in the first half of this year because we have benefited from the strong baht, which has helped us absorb production cost increase. But recently the baht has weakened and our production costs have risen," he said. Meanwhile, the company will slightly reduce its production fluorescent lights and make more incandescent bulbs because of higher profit margins on the latter. The company expects sales of Bt690 million this year, up from Bt600 million last year. Poomthep added that the company is in the process of building its first lighting-fixtures assembly plant in Bangkok. The Bt50-million project will see the company relocate this year to a 3,000-square-metre central warehouse compound in Khlong Toei from its old 1,800sqm premises on Phetkasem Road. It has outsourced all of its logistics activities to TNT. Poomthep said that once the assembly plant is completed, Sylvania (Thailand) may set up a similar assembly plant in Vietnam, which it views as a potential growth market. Once up and running, the new plant will reduce the company's production costs by around 20 per cent because it currently has to pay an average of 20 per cent in duties when importing lights from its manufacturing plants in China, Japan and Europe, he said. At present, 60 per cent of the company's products are imported from its manufacturing units in China, Japan, and Europe, the rest are made locally by contract manufacturers. "We don't have a plant to produce lights in Thailand because there are insufficient supplies of raw materials, especially glass. As a result we have asked local manufacturers to produce our fluorescent light products," he said.
Somluck Srimalee The Nation
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