RPT Asia looks to extend overseas presence
The RPT Asia office in Rayong, the local manufacturing base for US-based Reynolds Polymer Technology.
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Elasticity is all the more important in the heated global construction marketplace, as RPT Asia has learned as it looks at expanding to China, India and the Middle East.
RPT Asia, located in Rayong, is the local manufacturing base for US-based Reynolds Polymer Technology - a specialist manufacturer, designer and installer of thermoplaster used primarily in buildings, medical facilities and underwater aquariums. With 60 per cent of RPT Asia's exports going to the United States, Roger Reynolds, founder and CEO of Reynolds Polymer Technology, wants to do more business with China - "where the action is" - and is ready to set up a joint venture there next year. Using its proprietary R-Cast acrylic materials, the company built the futuristic AquaDom Aquarium in the Radisson Hotel in Berlin and a sign for Apple, the computer-maker. More sensationally, it provided David Blaine with a 2.4-metre acrylic spherical water cage for the illusionist's "Drowned Alive" stunt last year. Locally, it is building an aquarium in Chai Nat and has recently completed a "vanishing edge" swimming pool for a resort in Krabi. With about 35 projects in hand, from Lithuania to Dubai, the company now has the capacity to grow at least 5-10 per cent this year, Reynolds said yesterday. About US$500,000 (Bt17.5 million) will be pumped in to increase production capacity here. Its business is divided into construction at 60 per cent and the remainder in the commercial, retail and sales sector, which includes supplying materials to makers of furniture, lighting and signs. Reynolds believes the main driver for business will be its non-construction activities, projecting a conservative growth of 10-16 per cent. It has already supplied its R-Cast laminated acrylic sheet, roll and tube to local furniture-makers. Last year, RPT Asia contributed $4.5 million to the Colorado parent's $35 million in worldwide sales. Reynolds will be happy if revenues reach $4.8 million this year.
Kinan Tsui
The Nation
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