SCIB targets more mega infrastructure projects in Sarawak

General manager Chai Tze Khang said the company was working closely with the consultants and had submitted its designs for the proposed extension projects of seven more schools.

KUCHING: Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd (SCIB), which has increased the supply of precast concrete products to the Pan Borneo Highway project, is now eyeing for a slice of the cake in other mega infrastructure projects.

The new billion-ringgit projects are Sarawak coastal road, state water grid and second trunk road.

According to chairman Tan Sri Hamid Bugo, SCIB supplied close to RM27mil worth of precast concrete products to the Pan Borneo Highway project last year, and it expected to raise the supply by another 10% this year.

He said although the highway project was under scrutiny following the change of the federal government after the 2018 general elections, and that the project’s main contractors were told to propose “cost-optimisation” measures to lower the contract costs, SCIB’s supply of concrete products to the project had not been much affected.

“From the various infrastructure projects to be implemented, SCIB expects to capture a fair number of contracts ,especially from the RM6bil allocated for the coastal highway project.

“Products we hope to supply include precast concrete piles, pipes, beams, girders and other reinforced concrete components.

“Other state projects that SCIB intends to participate in are the water supply grid programme – stress areas (RM2.8bil), statewide roads, bridges and jetties (RM1.1bil) and “sekolah daif” rehabilitation (RM81mil),” he added.

SCIB is the largest precast concrete pipe manufacturer in Sabah and Sarawak and the sole spun pile and industrialised building system (IBS) hollow core and panel walls in east Malaysia.

To cater for the increasing demand from the Pan Borneo Highway project, SCIB had three years ago invested about RM5mil in a new plant to expand its annual production capacity of concrete piles and beams by 47,800 tonnes.

The group now owns three factories with a combined production capacity of 350,000 tonnes a year.

Hamid said the use of IBS precast concrete components in more construction projects had significantly boosted SCIB’s production and sales.

“Our IBS plant produced about 16,000 tonnes of components and sales achieved were about RM10mil for 2018.

“These numbers are substantial increases compared to that of 2017, when we produced almost 7,000 tonnes with sales amounting to RM4.18mil,” he said in in the company’s 2018 annual report.

This year, Hamid said SCIB expected to raise its sales of IBS components by 30% to RM130mil.

In the financial year ended Dec 31, 2018, SCIB recorded a 10% increase in group revenue to RM76mil from RM69mil in FY17.

Hamid described the higher revenue as “respectable” in a challenging year, as the change of the federal government had led to government projects being delayed or suspended due to reviews being carried out on them.

“As we leave 2018 with a fairly strong performance, indications in the market are good for us to be optimistic for a better 2019.

“The production team is meeting the set targets and all that is needed is to secure more contracts during this bullish upward market.

“In this respect, we expect to perform better. The Sarawak government has allocated a huge budget for the state’s development, especially on infrastructure projects (2019 state budget of RM9.1bil for development expenditure),” he said.