Siam city cement subsidiary Conwood set to shift its focus onto exports next year

Conwood is a subsidiary of the country's second-largest cement-maker, Siam City Cement.

CEO Suthipan Wacharopas said last week that he expected the local construction-material business to shrink more than 10 per cent next year, in line with a decline in the property sector.

Property business has been hit by the global financial crisis, which will cause banks to be more cautious about releasing loans next year.

 The economic slowdown will also reduce consumers' purchasing power from this year's level, while political uncertainty has affected their feelings about buying a home at this time, he said.

Suthipan said Conwood exported its wood-replacement products to Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Vietnam is a particularly good market, as the property sector is still growing.

The company plans to increase the volume of sales to Vietnam next year.

"Although Vietnam is facing economic problems, its gross domestic product next year is expected to grow by 6.5-6.8 per cent, higher than Thailand's estimated growth of only 2 per cent. So, property-business growth in Vietnam will also be higher than in our country," he said.

Conwood has no plans to penetrate new markets next year.

Despite the expected shrink in the size of the domestic market, it will maintain production capacity at 90,000 tonnes per year.

As part of its five-year plan, Conwood expects revenue contributed by exports to increase to Bt150 million in 2012, accounting for 12.5 per cent of targeted sales of Bt1.2 billion.

For the domestic market, Suthipan said the company would launch one or two new products early next year, and maybe another in the middle of the year.

It will also focus more on the house renovation market.

Conwood aims to increase its market share from 10 per cent this year to 13-14 per cent next year, due to its marketing plan.

Suthipan said revenue this year would show zero growth from last year, although he declined to disclose the 2007 figure.

"Revenue in the first half of the year grew from the same period last year, but it has dropped since the third quarter. Therefore, Conwood's revenue will be flat from last year," he said.