Caterpillar boss welcomes new Rayong plants

The two plants will be the company’s largest in Asean.
During a short visit to Bangkok yesterday, group president Richard Lavin said he was very confident that the new factories would promote the company’s growth and export to other countries.
Construction of one of the plants started in the first quarter of last year, and the other one in the third quarter. They are at Hemaraj Rayong Industrial Land in Rayong province.
Construction of the 60,000-square-metre underground mining factory will be completed next month and production will start in the fourth quarter.
It will produce four different models of articulated trucks and loaders used in hard-rock underground mining applications.
Construction of the 40,000sqm medium track-type tractor factory will be completed in the first quarter of next year and will begin producing four models shortly thereafter.
Total investment for the two facilities is about $300 million (Bt9.5 billion). Once they are fully operational, they will employ 1,800 people.
More than 95 per cent of the products will be for export, especially to Indonesia, India, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, Russia, South Africa, Latin America and North America.
Lavin said the emerging growth of Asia and high competitiveness advantages of Thailand in terms of logistics and infrastructure, along with the strong support of the government, had encouraged the company to invest here.
The company has not yet finalised how many units will be produced in the first year of operation.
Lavin said the contribution to the company’s sales from Thailand and elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region was expected to increase gradually each year, boosted by these two new plants. Currently, sales in Asia and Australia contribute 25 per cent to the total.
He said the company expected to achieve about $70 billion in sales globally this year, higher than last year’s revenue of $60.13 billion.
In the first quarter of this year, the group generated sales worth $15.9 billion.
He said Caterpillar decided to invest in Thailand as it foresaw long-term competitiveness. The upcoming Asean economic integration to eliminate trade barriers will promote the growth of the company along with that of the region’s economy.
The recent increase in Thailand’s minimum wage to Bt300 a day had no effect on Caterpillar’s investment decision. However, Lavin said the company was concerned about labour shortages and a lack of skilled technicians, which could hamper its expansion. He called for the government to invest in training to ensure sufficient human resources to serve the growth of industries and investment in the Kingdom.
The Caterpillar president also expects that the government will continue to develop the country’s infrastructure and logistics along with human resources.