Hi-Essence increases its investment in ECER to RM85m

11/21/2008 — Bernama
Plastics wire and cable manufacturer Hi-Essence Cable Sdn Bhd has increased its investment in the Kertih Plastics Park to RM85 million from RM50 million.
The Kertih Plastics Park, a project under the East Coast Economic Region master plan, is the country’s first fully integrated plastics hub.
In a statement today, Hi-Essence managing director, Mohamed Nor Abu Bakar said the company has expanded its product range to be manufactured from the Kertih plant, which will cover all the requirements of the oil and gas industry.
“In addition, we will also be expanding our lab facilities for product testing and certification. The plant will start production some time in the second quarter of 2009.
“The physical construction of the factory is near completion and all the machine and testing equipment will arrive at the factory by first quarter of 2009,” he noted.
He said the additional investment was also due to the increasing cost and foreign exchange rate in procuring the machine and setting up the facilities.
Hi-Essence Cable’s choice of Kertih Plastics Park is due to the “attractive price of land” and its proximity to Petronas’s Kertih Intergrated Petrochemical Complex (KIPC), which provides access to feedstock, warehousing and logistics services.
Meanwhile, Hi-Essence is currently working with Petronas Polymer Technology Centre to identify opportunities for development of polymer resins and product applications in wire and cable.
The collaboration will help develop these products locally in the future, as they are currently sourced overseas.
“Hi-Essence’s projected earnings is expected to be in the region of RM50 million to RM80 million per annum, in this current economic climate,” said Mohamed Nor.
He said the plant and infrastructure will be financed through internal funds as well as loans from commercial banks.
Kertih Plastics Park is expected to draw investments of about RM2 billion, creating job opportunities for about 7,000 people in the manufacturing, support and ancillary services.
It is aimed at adding value to the national hydrocarbon resources by moving up the product value chain and expanding downstream activities in the petrochemical industry into plastics and plastics-related industries.
Other than enhancing the competitiveness of Malaysia’s plastics industry, it provides a focused development to cater to the needs of the plastics industry.
Developed on a 140-hectare piece of land known as Lot Q next to KIPC, the Kertih Plastics Park is expected to spur the development of other sectors such as construction and medical appliances as well as encourage the development of local small and medium scale enterprises, which will feed off the critical mass of the park.
Malaysia is already one of the largest plastic producers in the Asian region.
Malaysia’s plastic industry registered a growth of 8.3 percent in the first half of this year with a turnover of RM7.96 billion compared to the same period in the previous year. – Bernama.