Japan-based sanitary-ware manufacturer Toto has set aside Bt1.7 billion for the construction of a new plant in Saraburi as part of a joint venture with Siam Cement Group (SCG).
The joint venture, with registered capital of Bt550 million - 60 per cent owned by Toto and 40 per cent by SCG - has been named Toto Thailand (Manufacturing), the firm's managing director Minoru Noomo said at a press conference yesterday.
The construction of the new plant, with a production capacity of 400,000 units a year, is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2011. The facility should start operating in 2012.
Noomo said the ongoing political uncertainty in Thailand did not have a negative impact on the company's expansion plans, as the Kingdom is a great location for transporting products to Europe.
Toto is also planning to transfer its new technology and make Thailand its Asian design centre.
"We plan to make Thailand the Asian design centre before 2017, when we will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of Toto in Japan," he said.
Toto also plans to more than treble its sales growth by 2017 from the Bt500 million worth of sales in Thailand last year, he said.
The company is aiming for 15-per-cent growth to Bt750 million this year. The total market value of sanitary ware in Thailand has been recorded at about Bt5 billion.
Tanasak Sakrikanont, marketing manager of Siam Sanitaryware Industry, a subsidiary of SCG which produces under the Cotto brand, said the local market value of sanitary-ware had dropped by about 10 per cent last year from 2008 to the economic downturn.
However, he said the market should recover and show growth of between 8 and 10 per cent this year, especially in the luxury market.
Toto yesterday launched two luxury sanitary-ware series called the Toto Neorest LE Series and Toto Basic Series as part of its aim to achieve its sales target this year.
