Wah Seong Corp Bhd
plans to revitalise its non-oil and gas division by focusing on agro-based engineering, environment/waste management, infrastructure and utilities businesses, said executive director Giancarlo Maccagno.
“We have formulated a key strategic plan to expand sectors with growth potential and divest those businesses which do not provide the desired return on investment. It will be a complete transformation strategy for the division,” he told StarBiz.
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Giancarlo Maccagno |
The group has started the ball rolling by acquiring a 70% stake in E-Green Technology Sdn Bhd.
E-Green will be involved in electronic waste (e-waste) management and the extraction of precious metals using a new and proven technology from South Africa.
Maccagno said the electronics industry shunned the option of pure disposal due to the high cost and negative environmental impact and preferred to recycle which, in addition to recovering the precious metals present in the e-waste, is also environmental friendly.
“The environmental management sector, in particular waste management, is a business of the future,” Maccagno said, adding that the increasing demand of electronic products worldwide and the limited useful life of the products had resulted in a growing amount of e-wastes.
He said E-Green was currently the only company providing such services.
It is in the midst of setting up its first plant in Penang, Malaysia's “Silicon Valley” and electronics hub, to cater to the local market and eventually other Asian countries and the rest of the world.
“We are investing about RM10mil in the plant and the technology. The plant should be ready in October and we should see some contribution from this area next year.
“We are excited about E-Green as it represents a step forward in our plan to revitalise and grow Wah Seong’s non-oil and gas division by venturing into new areas,” Maccagno said.
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Another area with growth potential is agro-based engineering under wholly-owned subsidiary PMT Industries Sdn Bhd, which is involved in the engineering and fabrication of parts and machineries for the palm oil and oleochemical industries.
“This is an area we like and one that has much potential for growth. PMT recently secured two major projects to supply two 3MW Shinko Condensing Steam Turbines valued at RM9.4mil.
“The condensing steam turbines are to be used in the biomass power plant of two timber-processing complexes in Tawau, Sabah,” Maccagno said, adding that PMT currently had an order book of RM40mil.
Wah Seong is also looking at reviving its infrastructure and utilities division.
The group has established itself in the sector through subsidiary Petro-Pipe Industries (M) Sdn Bhd (PPI), which is one of the country's leading manufacturers of spiral welded steel pipes for infrastructure use, such as piling of jetties and bridges.
“We recently took a proactive step to grow and revive this business by aggressively pursuing international projects.
“PPI currently has an order book of more than RM100mil, of which 70% is from overseas markets like Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia,” Maccagno said.
He said PPI was also capable of manufacturing spiral welded steel pipes for water pipelines, and demand for these pipes were expected to increase tremendously as projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan take off.
“We expect growth from this division to be quite substantial this year. Revenue should increase by 20% to 30%,” he added.
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Pipes from all over the world are shipped for coating at Wah Seong's plants. |
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