Dimet shifts attention to architectural coatings
Dimet (Siam), a manufacturer of protective coatings, plans to invest up to Bt100 million in a new factory or warehouse in the next three years to raise production capacity of architectural colour coatings because it wants to penetrate this market, as the
Managing director Suraphol Rujikarnchana said yesterday that the company was studying the feasibility of either a Bt100-million factory project or a Bt30-million warehouse. This expansion would be aimed at cashing in on increasing demand of consumers and real-estate developers.
During the past 30 years the company has acquired expertise and transferred technology from coating manufacturers such as US-based PPG Amercoat and Australia’s Wattyl, so the company is able to produce high-quality coloured coatings for big industrial projects like Chevron’s gas-drilling sites and power plants of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. But now such projects are becoming stagnant.
Thus the company will focus on timber and architectural coatings to spread risk in the future by meeting consumers’ demands for healthy, environmentally friendly and waterproof products. To this end, it launched several new products yesterday: Dimet Solaguard, Dimet i.d Pearl, Dimet i.d Stone Effect, Dimet i.d Luxury, DS Surface Toterant Epoxy 750 and DS Expoxy Filler.
Tansith Rujikarnchana, senior marketing executive for architectural coatings, said the company planned to have 25 dealers in several provinces by the end of this year, up from 10 dealers now. The new products will go on the shelves at modern trade channels such as HomePro. Dimet will also participate in the HomePro Expo to demonstrate its new products.
Suraphol said there was room to grow in these markets, particularly in architectural coatings, because of rising property development in the Kingdom. The company expects a 5-per-cent surge in architectural-coatings sales. Annual sales in this market are about Bt20 million.
In the next three years, he believes that architectural coatings could account for half of the company’s sales revenue, up from 10 per cent now. Currently 35-40 per cent of revenue comes from protective and industrial coatings, followed by 25-30 per cent from timber coatings.
Supaphol said the company’s marketing efforts and dealer expansion could result in revenue increasing by 15-20 per cent by the end of this fiscal year in June, from Bt362 million in the previous fiscal year.
