VANACHAI NOW EXPECTS POSITIVE GROWTH THIS YEAR

       Vanachai Group, a major manufacturer of laminated flooring, has revised its 2009 sales target upward after witnessing signs of a market recovery in the first half.
       Assistant marketing director Sittiwat Sahawat yesterday said the group had previously targeted its sales dropping by 10 per cent this year due to the political and economic uncertainties that have hit the country since the final quarter of last year.
       "Our customers were quite panicky about the situation and most of them stopped ordering products. It caused our sales of laminated floors to drop dramatically by 30 per cent in the final three months of last year," said Sittiwat, who is the third generation of the Sahawat family that founded Vanachai Group.
       "However, we have seen good signs of market recovery since the beginning of this year. There are many ongoing property projects to be further developed this year and that creates strong demand for laminated floors," said Sittiwat.
       He added that the company had sold 600,000 square metres of flooring in the first six months of the year, up 10 per cent from the same period last year. It has also achieved extra growth of 5 per cent in the current quarter.
       "Encouraged by the results so far this year, we are quite confident of achieving [domestic sales] growth of between 12 per cent and 13 per cent for the year. We also expect a dramatic growth in exports, at about 20 per cent this year," said Sittiwat.
       He said the company expected to achieve Bt1.4 billion in sales this year, up from the Bt1.2 billion posted last year. About Bt600 million will be from domestic sales and another Bt800 million from exports to markets including Turkey, Vietnam, Malaysia, Dubai and India. The company exports laminated floors both through original-equipment manufacturing and its own brand.
       "We are however still doubtful about the domestic market next year, as no new property projects have been launched. The future is still uncertain," said Sittiwat.
       He said that the company would next year increase the ratio of exports from the current 60 per cent to more than 70 per cent as a strategic move to cope with the uncertainty over domestic sales.
       The company expects to export to new markets such as the US, as well as paying more attention to existing markets with good potential such as Vietnam and Malaysia.
       Vanachai's factory, located in Ban Bung district of Chon Buri, is now running at only 50 per cent of its capacity of 4 million square metres of flooring per annum. The plant is operating on just a two-shift basis for a total of about 16 hours a day.