AkijBashir set to enter glass market, invests Tk 2,200cr

AkijBashir Group is set to soon offer different types of high-end glass used in construction, seeking to grab a share of rising sales amounting to around Tk 2,600 crore annually.

Akij Glass Industries, a concern of the group, has invested around Tk 2,200 crore to set up a factory on over 125 acres of land in Madhabpur upazila of Habiganj, some 114 kilometres east of capital Dhaka.

"We already completed establishing the factory and trial production will start soon," said Abu Jubaid Mohammad Rassel, deputy general manager (marketing) of Akij Glass Industries.

A major part of the investment, which includes the price paid for purchasing the land, came from some local banks and financial institutions that found the initiative to be commercially viable, he said while talking to The Daily Star last week.

He said they have set a target to start marketing the products, categorised by safety, thermal performance and visual appearance, from the first week of July.

Initially, high-end float glass will be manufactured and the production capacity will be 600 tonnes per day, Rassel added.

The company has mobilised sophisticated machinery and equipment from Europe to ensure quality in the manufacturing process, he said.

The basic raw material to be used is sand, which is available in Bangladesh, while other chemicals and ingredients need to be imported, he said.

According to Rassel, the factory will directly employ around 1,000 people.

Referring to their market assessment, he said 5.15 lakh tonnes of glass was used in construction in Bangladesh every year and the amount has been growing by 15 percent on an average over the past decade due to rapid urbanisation.

Still, around 1.5 tonnes of high-end glass need to be imported from China and Indonesia, he said.

So, there is a scope to avail a share of the high-end glass market, he added.

Industry insiders believe the country annually consumes around 3.5 lakh tonnes of glass, including float, reflective and soundproof ones, leading to market sales of no less than Tk 2,600 crore if present prices are considered.

Local manufacturers claim they are capable of catering to 98 per cent of the country's total requirement while the remaining 2 percent consists of high-end imported products.

Major players in the domestic industry include Nasir Glass Industries and PHP Float Glass Industries, which collectively account for around 95 percent of the sales.

Meanwhile, AB Glass and state-owned Usmania Glass Sheet Factory each hold very nominal shares.

Nasir Glass Industries is the market leader in terms of production and supply with a market share of around 60 percent.

It has two manufacturing units that jointly produce about 22,000 tonnes of glass per month, around 75 percent of which is for the local market while the rest is exported.

PHP Float Glass Industries manufactures 75,000 tonnes of float glass per year in 10 colours.