Astino aims to produce more roofing materials

ASTINO managing director Ng Back Teng

NIBONG TEBAL: Astino Bhd is targeting to produce 120,000 tonnes of roofing and metal building materials per annum over the next two years to better serve the domestic and overseas markets.

The group now produces about 108,000 tonnes of construction materials per year, and exports 10% of the output to Asia-Pacific countries including the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore.

“The domestic market is slow although the ongoing infrastructure projects and private housing schemes are generating the demand.

“There is no clear indication as to when the market will improve but we think there should be some pick-up in the next two years,” managing director Ng Back Teng (pic) said.

However, the overseas demand for roofing products and other metal building materials is on the rise, he added.

According to a recent report by Transparency Market Research, the global roofing market is expected to reach US$97bil in 2020 from US$64bil in 2013, growing at a compounded annual average rate of 6.3%.

Asia-Pacific, according to the report, showed the highest demand for roofing, accounting for 40% of the global roofing market in 2013.

“The market for roofing in Asia-Pacific is gaining much traction from the increasing investment for infrastructural development in industrial, commercial and healthcare sectors,” the report said.

“We, therefore, plan to gradually increase the group’s yearly output over the next two years to 120,000 tonnes per annum, so that we are in a better position to serve the export market,” Ng said.

The group has six production facilities in Penang, Selangor, Malacca and Pahang which are expected to produce a total of 108,000 tonnes of roofing and building materials for the financial year ending July 2017 (FY17).

The group expected its output for FY17 to be flat against 2016.

“Our targeted output for 2017 is about 108,000 tonnes of building materials and roofing products, which is the more or less the achievement for 2016.

“We are also looking at a monthly revenue of about RM38mil, which is the same as a year ago. The bulk of our building material products are sold in the country,” Ng said.

For FY16, the group expected the results to improve over 2015 due to the higher pricing of essential raw materials such as galvanised iron.

On its 60-acre land bank in Nibong Tebal, Ng said Astino is drawing up plans to develop industrial projects there. “Although the market is very soft, there is still the need to plan ahead,” he said.

For the nine months of FY16, the group posted RM21.9mil in net profit on the back of a RM360.8mil turnover compared with RM19.3mil and RM387mil respectively achieved in the same period last year.