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Published on April 2, 2008

CEO Suthiphan Wacharopas yesterday said Conwood was very successful in the Vietnamese market, which the company entered last June.

With Vietnam's thriving real-estate industry, the company exported 17 shipments of wood-replacement products worth Bt10 million in February. Conwood now plans to enter other countries in the region.

Suthiphan said Conwood expected to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Holcim in the Philippines this month. The MoU is to stipulate that Holcim will import 250 tonnes of wood-replacement materials from Conwood in the first three months and 500 tonnes in the first six months.

Conwood is a subsidiary of the Siam City Cement Group, which is under Swiss-based Holcim.

"Holcim in the Philippines will distribute the company's products in that country. We expect to generate revenue of Bt30 million from Vietnam and the Philippines this year, representing 4 per cent of this year's expected revenue of Bt835 million," he said. Conwood is also interested in other Asian countries like Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia. The company's five-year business plan stipulates revenue contributed from exports is to increase to Bt150 million in 2012, accounting for 12.5 per cent of sales revenue, which is targeted at Bt1.2 billion.

Suthiphan said the company would build a new plant once it had expanded abroad. Conwood will spend Bt470 million for the new facility, which will add another 45,000 tonnes per year to the existing production capacity of 90,000 tonnes. The new plant is expected to start operating next year.

He said raw-material costs had increased 10 per cent on average since last year for such items as cement, oil, natural gas and cellulose. However, the company cannot adjust product prices, because they are already 10-15-per-cent higher than those of its rivals.

Conwood has solved this problem by creating new products priced 20-25-per-cent higher than existing goods, in order to cover all increased costs. The company plans to introduce six new products this year, including eaves, ceiling borders and stair decks.

At present, Conwood has a 10-per-cent share of the Bt7-billion market for wood-material products.

Nalin Viboonchart

The Nation