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Published on August 25, 2007

Marketing manager Sirivadee Wongnawachart yesterday said the company started penetrating the retail sector in May during the Architect 2007 trade exhibition, where it launched its PVC foam walls. Its latest plan is to sell via modern trade channels, focusing on speciality stores like HomeWork, HomePro and Home Mart in addition to its current 500 dealers nationwide. Consumers in the premium market are its target.

Sirivadee said that overall, the Bt1.2-billion PVC floor market maintained a good outlook during the first seven months of the year, with property projects continuing to emerge as customers.

She said the company expected its PVC foam walls to achieve a sales volume of 50,000 metres a month at Bt55 per metre. Total production capacity is 1.8 million metres annually.

President Chatree Wongnawachart said there were four major players in the industry, including Union Property, which enjoys a market share of 25-30 per cent. Other competitors are manufacturers of other types of floors, such as granite and laminated.

The company next year plans to introduce a PVC foam ceiling, which is now being developed.

Chatree said the company achieved Bt300 million in sales last year, with 20 per cent coming from exports.. This year, it has targeted 5-per-cent growth despite major negative factors like continued political uncertainty, the economic slowdown and currency fluctuations.

Sirivadee said the company would approach hospitals, industrial factories and shopping malls. She said she had seen good demand in these areas, and that would create sustainable growth for Union Property.

The company allocates 3-5 per cent of its annual targeted sales for marketing. It also enters export markets through local sales agents in certain countries and has a joint venture in France, in which Union Property and the French partner hold equal stakes.

Chatree said Union Property had been only slightly affected by the fluctuating baht, as most of its sales were domestic. However, the company will place greater emphasis on exporting to Australia and Japan, calling the currencies of those two countries "more efficient" than US dollars.

But for the moment, the company is focusing more on penetrating other Asian markets.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation