Koh Brothers unit opens first precast plant in Iskandar, Malaysia

Plant to be fully operational by end-2013.

Koh Brothers Group Limited (Koh Brothers) announced that its wholly-owned building materials unit, G & W Group, has kick-started operations at its first precast plant in Senai, within Iskandar, Malaysia. This plant is expected to be fully operational in the last quarter of 2013.

As a strategic base to complement its existing precast plants in Singapore, the 47,000 sqm Iskandar Precast Plant, which has an annual production capacity of 75,000 cubic meters, is expected to boost G & W Group’s precast plants to 96,000 sqm in land size, and total precast concrete capacity to approximately 150,000 cubic meters per annum.

Mr Francis Koh, Managing Director and Group CEO of Koh Brothers, said: “The establishment of our new plant in Malaysia is timely, in view of Singapore’s government’s intention to ramp up housing supply. Our decision to have another new precast plant was first made when the government announced the intention to ramp up housing supply to 90,000 private units and 110,000 public homes by 2016.

"The plant is also expected to benefit from the development of Iskandar Malaysia, where demand for high quality precast components or ‘Industrialised Building System’ is expected to be tremendous. Ideally located in Senai, an industrial zone where many new and existing precast and precast related suppliers are based, the new plant opens up vast opportunities for us to better cater to our clients’ needs.”

Mr Francis Koh added, “In addition, the new plant’s close proximity to our HQ in Singapore ensures highly efficient supply-chain management. The new plant is also expected to benefit our Building Materials arm significantly. Not only will the new plant enhance our productivity, it also brings greater cost efficiencies and therefore potential margin improvements. As one of the largest precast concrete producers and in line with our advancement in the industry, our precast plants will also use green technology to produce environmentally-friendly concrete precast products, as part of our growth strategy.”