Sirivan Koo-Amphorn, general manager of Continental Tyres Thailand, said she was scheduled to meet with the Thai authorities next week to hear what incentives and support the government could offer to the proposed project, in addition to the Board of Investment’s privileges.

The proposed tyre project would serve not only the Thai market but would also be for export to other countries in the region, she said.

Sirivan said Continental hoped to win support from the government considering the fact that tyre manufacturing is one the targeted industries that the government has decided to promote because of its benefit to rubber planters.

Sales of Continental tyres in Thailand have grown fourfold since 2012, though its market share is still less than 3 per cent. The German automotive group aims to double its market share from an original target if it has a factory here.

The company currently imports tyres from Malaysia, where it has a production base.

Despite a sluggish tyre market overall, Continental increased its sales in Thailand by more than 20 per cent during the first half of this year and expects them to grow even more in the second half, thank to an expansion of its dealership network. The company plans to grow its dealer network by 30 per cent from its current network of nearly 300 over the next 12 months.

The company will also set up its first two “ContiShops” in Thailand, as well as start penetrating the pickup-truck, sport-utility and van tyre markets next year. It currently focuses only on the high-inch tyre segment (16-inch rim and up).

Sirivan said Continental Tyres Thailand booked 20-per-cent growth in sales revenue to nearly Bt1 billion last year, despite a decline in the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) market.

Meanwhile, Continental yesterday announced that it had chosen Thailand as the first market in the Asia-Pacific region to have its ContiPressureCheck (CPC) tyre-pressure monitoring system. Equipped with sensors mounted inside the tyre and a control device and receiver attached to the chassis, CPC is aimed at reducing fleet costs by ensuring proper tyre use and maintenance.

Sirivan said CPC’s initial targets included major fleet operators of buses and hazardous-goods trucks. It aims to sell 4,000 tyres equipped with the system this year.

Unlike in Europe where it works on an open-system platform, Continental has joined forces with GT&T Engineering, a Singapore-based provider of vehicle-tracking systems, to launch the CPC system to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia.

Srun Pitaksit, managing director of Global Positioning Liberty System, a company that is working with GT&T to deploy the CPC system in Thailand and other markets, said fleet operators would not have to pay for the hardware but only a monthly fee of a few hundred baht extra for using the system.

Besides saving fuel, extending the tyre’s life span and reducing the chance of accidents, CPC will help tackle the No 1 problem in Thai fleets, tyre theft, he added. Continental has invited more than 100 fleet operators to a demonstration of its CPC system today.

Jessadaporn Kaokaen, founder and director of the instant-coffee brand CJ Cup, said her company wanted to upgrade its scale to a medium-sized operation because the size of the business was meaningful in terms of getting an additional credit line from the bank.

The company requires additional lending from Kasikornbank to support the purchase of new machinery as part of its doubling of capacity from 500 tonnes to 1,000 tonnes, she said.

CJ Intertrade recently participated in the “THAIFEX” international trade show in Bangkok in the hope of attracting more clients, and its 4-in-1 instant-coffee-mix products have been welcomed by distributors in 15 countries. The company has signed a tangible contract with a Chinese distributor in the UK, and with another in Hunan, in China.

On average, CJ Intertrade has witnessed annual growth of 15 per cent, but after getting the new deals, her company now expects to expand at a faster rate, with sales revenue this year likely to reach Bt100 million, Jessadaporn said.

She and her partner founded the company in 2011 as a distributor to overseas markets, but she was soon convinced that while this was a satisfactory start, a distributor should one day also have its own product to sell.

She chose to go into the coffee business, as it was an increasingly popular drink the world over, while the market for 3-in-1 instant-coffee mixes was growing by around 30 per cent a year. However, she also believed that her instant coffee should add value in order to represent the fact that the product was from Thailand.

“The fruits of Thailand are well-known overseas, therefore I initiated a formula for instant coffee by adding durian, mangosteen and mango into the coffee – and we called it the 4-in-1instant-coffee mix,” she explained.

In 2012, the company hired an original-equipment manufacturer in Vietnam to produce the 4-in-1 mix under the CJ Cup brand for export to Myanmar and China.

However, the Vietnamese business later copied her product and undercut CJ Cup prices, so she decided to set up a small manufacturing plant of her own in Thailand.

China is the main export target for the brand because of its huge population, plus the fact that Chinese people favour Thai fruits, especially durian. At first, however, sales were well below target because of the newness of her product, which caused Jessadaporn to rethink her marketing strategy.

As mainland Chinese are the highest inbound tourist segment in Thailand, she decided her products should be offered to Chinese visitors as a means of testing the market.

This proved to be a successful move, because after these “tasters” returned home, her company began to receive approaches from many distributors in China about CJ Cup products, while they are also now sold via e-commerce in mainland China.

CJ Intertrade was recently also included in the “SMEs Proactive” project by the Thai Chamber of Commerce, under which – in collaboration with the Commerce Ministry’s International Trade Promotion Department – business-matching was arranged between selected Thai small and medium-sized enterprises and Chinese companies.

“Under the cornerstone partnership with this telecom giant, we hope that our branded content can create a more effective return on investment for our programme sponsors and advertisers,” Fahmai Damrongchaitham, vice president for marketing and sales at GMM Grammy’s music unit, said yesterday.

Prattana Leelapanang, executive vice president of marketing for AIS, said that having GMM Grammy as a strategic content partner would help increase data consumption in its telecom network.

AIS’s mobile users would consume more data after the company’s 3G/4G wireless network has been rolled out nationwide.

AIS also predicts that the number of active mobile users mainly watching streaming video will double or even rise threefold after establishing the partnership, he said.

1.5m customers

Currently, there are 1.5 million AIS Play app download customers, of whom around 1 million are active users, he added.

Fahmai said the AIS Play mobile app and AIS Playbox (Internet Protocol television box) would be priority online platforms that allowed viewers to watch live programmes from the GMM 25 digital-TV channel, concerts and music videos, as well as catch-up service.

GMM Grammy aims to extend its viewer base through both new channels.

All content is produced by GMM Bravo – a business unit developing branded content for the GMM 25 channel – the executive said.

The unit aims to make at least 10 TV series this year, targeting an audience aged between 15 and 34, he added.

GMM Bravo has challenged itself by targeting revenue of Bt250 million this year, with advertising and sponsoring income accounting for around 70-80 per cent and the remainder coming from digital-content management, the vice president said.

Fahmai also hopes GMM Bravo will be a key revenue contributor for GMM 25 achieving Bt800 million in revenue this year.

“Despite experiencing intense competition, we aim to keep our share of 25 per cent as the leader of the Bt2-billion domestic market with 600,000 units sold,” managing director Roland Hoehn said yesterday.

Under this year’s strategy, more models will be rolled out, including two new water heaters – the XG Limited Gold Edition and the DX H2OT – and a new water-filter line-up under the Nature brand.

Besides retaining its upper-class customer base, the company will target the mass market with the DX H2OT heater in a fresh range of colours – green, orange, yellow and blue – and at an affordable price of Bt2,990.

About Bt100 million has been earmarked for promoting those new products and organising market activities for them this year. Panlob Chieochanwittayawer, director of sales and marketing, said that to increase sales, his team would focus on a customisation strategy with all dealers.

To reach more target consumers in the digital market, the company is also expanding its online communications via various channels such as Facebook, YouTube, Line and the company’s website as well as its e-commerce partners such as Lazada, shopat7.com, CentralOnlineShopping, WeMall and TrueMart. For future growth, the company has worked with leading developers like Pruksa Real Estate, Land and Houses and Property Perfect to introduce a system that allows new homes to run on renewable energy.

It includes advanced heat pumps and ventilation, but it is suited for housing projects.

Established in 1924, Stiebel Eltron has its Asian head office and production site in Ayutthaya.

Two years ago, it expanded its production capacity by acquiring a new plant near its first production site.

The Pattaya dealership is the fourth authorised dealership for Harley-Davidson in Thailand, and is owned and operated by Eastern Thai Riders Co.

Harley-Davidson owners from Pattaya and throughout Thailand joined Sontaya Kunplome, former tourism and sports minister, and the Harley-Davidson Owners Group and others at the opening.

Peter Mackenzie, managing director of Harley-Davidson Asia Emerging Markets, said: “Pattaya is undoubtedly the heart of Chon Buri and arguably one of the most famous cities in Thailand.

“Not only is it a tourism hub but its also acts as the business centre of many industries such as financial, entertainment, and sports.

“At Harley-Davidson, our goal is to develop a trusted network of independently owned dealerships, offer great experiences that draw more people into the sport of motorcycling, and fulfil the riders’ dreams of personal freedom.

“The launch of the latest dealership here in Pattaya will give riders access to unrivalled products and services direct from the legendary brand, while adding their own welcoming local touch.”

The new dealership offers Harley’s entire range of bikes, including the Dark Custom line, featuring the Roaster, Iron 883, Forty-Eight, and Harley-Davidson Street.

Also available are “best-in-class” after-sales services and original parts, as well as apparel and riding activities. Harley says the business will serve as a platform for local Harley enthusiasts to share their passion for riding together across Thailand’s many breathtaking destinations.

Anuwat Inthraphuvasak, managing director of Harley-Davidson Pattaya, said: “It is about time for riders here to experience the thrill of owning a true American legend. Harley-Davidson’s presence inPattaya adds much excitement to the district, known for passionate minds who will appreciate the iconic brand’s spirit of freedom and adventure.”

He expressed his gratitude on behalf of his team for the opportunity afforded by the Harley-Davidson Motor Company.

“It is an honour to be chosen by, to be a partner with and, above all, to be welcomed to the Harley-Davidson family,” he said. “Furthermore, we are more than confident that Harley-Davidson ofPattaya can accommodate and grow the passion for riding in eastern Thailand, backed up by our long-time experience in the automotive business.”

Maru-T is an established brand in Japan with a 100-year history. It claims to be a trusted brand among Japanese professional painters for high quality and standards, durability, versatility and innovation. Maru-T says it continually develops its technology to enable professionals to achieve a flawless painting finish.

This is the first time Maru-T has entered a market outside its home country, entrusting Siam Hardware Industry to launch the brand in the Thai market, to source sales and distribution channels and to engage in marketing activities.

“There are a lot of choices in the home paint market. Paint manufacturers are constantly using technology and innovation to improve the quality and finish of their paint, but not the painting tools,” said Pimpida Achariyasilp, business development executive of Siam Hardware Industry. “In past years, we have not seen any new innovative painting tools to be used with all these new paints. We see that there is a market for more customised and high-grade brushes and rollers to produce a much better paint finish.”

Pornthep Achariyasilp, president of Siam Hardware, said: “Both Siam Hardware and Maru-T Ohtsuka are family-owned businesses that have passed though successive generations from strength to strength. Maru-T has been in Japan for 100 years, while Siam Hardware Industry has been a trusted brand among consumers for decades. “We follow a very strict quality-control process. We believe that Maru-T is fully confident in our high working standard and the potential there is in the Thai market.

“This is the first time that we are distributing products that are not our own brand, but we are confident of Maru-T’s exceptionally high-quality products.

“This is also a very good opportunity for us to expand our markets and reach out to new customers, so we are very happy that Siam Hardware has been entrusted to be Maru-T Ohtsuka’s official partner in distributing its products in Thailand.”

Siam Hardware Industry has been in business for more than 50 years and is a major manufacturer of metal tools and parts used in construction, handyman’s tools, and gardening tools for both in-house brands and as an original equipment manufacturer for the domestic market as well as for international markets.

Siam Hardware Industry says it applies a rigid quality-control process and innovation to meet the needs of customers, and this is one reason for the partnership with Maru-T Ohtsuka.

“Thailand is a very interesting market for premium-grade painting tools, and there is great potential, as no one has yet introduced this range of products to the Thai market,” said Shinichiro Waki, director of Maru-T Ohtsuka Corp.

“We are very confident that Thai professional painters will be satisfied with Maru-T products, as we have spent [many] years developing these top-notch painting tools. It is also a great opportunity for us to have a partner that is experienced in a local market like Siam Hardware Industry.”

Pimpida said that in the early stages, the focus would be on building brand awareness and educating customers on how these tools can make a difference to their work. Siam Hardware Industry has invested about Bt10 million in this partnership.

The products that will be available at this stage include micro-fibre paint rollers (7- and 9-inch), lint-free painting rollers (also 7- and 9-inch), long-hair painting rollers (7-inch), Toji brushes (hand-made, traditional Japanese painting brushes, available in sizes from 30 to 60millimetres), heavy-duty scrapers, and extension poles.

All of these products, with prices starting at Bt90, will be available from mid-August at paint stores and in SCG Home Mart stores in Bangkok.

The latest Page feature is available for all Facebook users across Thailand, after soft-launching in the second quarter.

Rathiya Issarachaikul, head of SME Thailand for Facebook, said that after the launch in the Kingdom, Facebook Shop would be available throughout the rest of Southeast Asia and then emerging markets around the world.

She said Thailand was a leader in social commerce and a growing number of consumers preferred to communicate with retailers online.

“Seventy-four per cent of Thais now use instant messaging daily, an increase from 34 per cent in 2014. This is why we launched Facebook Shop in Thailand first,” she said.

Facebook Shop turns Page into an e-commerce site and allows customers to communicate easily with retailers via Facebook Messenger with a ready-to-use message format as well as a saved reply that allows businesses to auto-reply with pre-set messages.

Rathiya said 92 per cent of online shoppers in Thailand used Facebook to find new products.

She said Shop was created to provide businesses with a new way to showcase their products prominently.

Shop is actually a separate page within Facebook Page and its dedicated features include merchandising, purchasing, subscription and advertising.

“Facebook aims to be a platform for helping SME drive sales through the trend of social commerce,” Rathiya said.

Facebook said the Call to Action feature allowed Page users to choose different buttons – Call Now, Shop Now, Message Now, and Learn More – depending on the particular priority.

“All new features, including the latest Facebook Shop, were created to help Page users enhance their online businesses on the Facebook platform free of charge. Our revenue remains advertising – both from Facebook Ad Manager and Boost Post/Product,” Rathiya said.

Sales increase

In Thailand, NIX Studio and JQ Seafood Delivery have incorporated the Shop section on their pages, and both have seen sales increase.

Phanthipha Mongkolla, founder of NIX Studio, said the new feature made the company’s Page the main marketing channel for one-stop online shopping and did so without additional investment.

Sureerat Seepromkhom, founder of JQ Seafood Delivery, said: “In April, on the first day of Songkran, we saw total orders exceed Bt1 million in a single day after adding the Shop section.”

In Thailand, more than 40 million people use Facebook every month. More than 38 million people access Facebook monthly on a mobile device, and more than 74 per cent of Thais on Facebook are connected to at least one local SME Page. The number of SME Pages in Thailand was not disclosed, while globally there are around 60 million.

Managing director Francis Vanbellen said yesterday that PDI’s mine concluded its 32 years of sustainable operations after producing its last 140,000 tonnes of zinc-silicate ore this year.

The company will now finalise the rehabilitation plan and convert the mine into an abundant forest, before returning it to the Forest Department next year.

To assure sustainable management of the site, it will be further developed under the royal-initiative project.

PDI will invest in the Padaeng Zinc Mine Museum and a pagoda, with completion expected next year.

PDI will sustain its supply of zinc metal to customers.

The zinc-silicate ore produced from the Mae Sot mine will be refined as usual in the Tak smelter. This year, PDI will produce and sell 70,000 tonnes of zinc metal.

The supply of zinc metal from its own mine to customers will continue next year. The company is studying sustaining supply by importing zinc metal in the future.

It is preparing an integrated industrial-waste-management project at its Tak location under a joint venture with Dowa Eco-System Co, a subsidiary of Dowa Holdings Co.

In close collaboration with the Industrial Works Department, PDI is exploring the feasibility of implementing a process to solve industrial-waste problems in the North and West.

The project would treat at least 50,000 tonnes per year. Operations are expected to go live by the end of 2018, with the Environment and Health Impact Assessment process being critical path to the timeline.

Birathorn Kasemsri Na Ayudhya, chief executive for content and media, said yesterday that the telecom giant had been awarded broadcasting rights for these major sports competitions from two international broadcasting networks – Qatar-based BeIN Sports and US-based Fox International Channel – but he declined to disclose how much True had spent on acquiring the broadcasting rights.

Under the deals signed with BeIN Sports, TrueVisions gets the rights to telecast live games from the top-flight football leagues in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France, as well as Major League Soccer in the US, the Uefa Champions League, Uefa Europa League and Uefa Super Cup – all via BeIN Sports channels 1-4.

TrueVisions secured a sub-licence agreement with BeIN Sports to telecast the English Premier League in Thailand after its rival CTH decided last month to pull out of the race due to financial difficulty.

Under the deals with Fox International Channel, TrueVisions will broadcast the Bundesliga, the Dutch Premier League and the AFC (the Asia Football Confederation) Champions League and AFC Cup via Fox Sports channels.

“We hope that these major sport events will encourage [many of the] 29 million mobile users of True Move to be TrueVisions subscribers via mobile devices, as well as via traditional pay-TV service,’ Birathorn added.

To stimulate demand, the company has launched a top-up package – True Super Soccer – for True Move mobile subscribers who already |subscribe to TrueVisions’ pay-TV service.

The rise came despite a drop in sales by 4 per cent year on year as chemical prices fell in tandem with oil prices.

SCG’s profit for the first half of the year soared 18 per cent to Bt29.51 billion.

Its cement and building-materials businesses continued to underperform, with second-quarter profit slipping 15 per cent to Bt2.48 billion on a 6-per-cent decrease in sales to Bt42.98 billion.

After growing by 5 per cent in the first quarter, cement demand in the second quarter softened by 3 per cent.

Roongrote Rangsiyopash, president and chief executive officer of the group, said yesterday that even though there were many government projects coming up, weaker demand from the private sector had resulted in lower cement consumption in the quarter.

SCG now expects cement demand to end the year up 1 per cent, the same rate as the first half, versus flat sales last year.

“Although in the second quarter there were many more public investment projects, investment and expenditures of the private sector were still small.

But we expect the outlook for the first half of next year to improve,” he said.

The chemical business would stay in its upcycle for two or three more years.

“Then our expansion in Asean should start to yield results,” Roongrote said.

Substitute for loss

“Both Asean and HVA [high-value-added products] should substitute for what we will lose from the [end of the upward] cycle of chemicals.”

He noted that SCG had invested billions of baht every year in HVA products.

Sales from SCG’s production bases in other Asean countries climbed 20 per cent to Bt13.16 billion in the second quarter.

SCG expects to begin production at its first cement factory in Myanmar this quarter, its packaging-paper project in Vietnam by the end of this year and its cement plant in Laos early next year.

The group recently commenced its first cement factory in Indonesia and its second plant in Cambodia, as well as an expansion project of its 30-per-cent0owned affiliate in Indonesia, Chandra Asri Petrochemical.

SCG’s exports from its Thai production bases to other Asean markets dropped 18 per cent to Bt12.03 billion, because of the fall in chemical prices and the start of its overseas Asean facilities.

SCG’s board of directors approved the delisting of its 90-per-cent-owned subsidiary Thai Plastic and Chemicals from the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

The group also reported to the SET that its subsidiary SCG Cement-Building Materials had entered into an agreement to buy an additional 10-per-cent stake in Jumbo Barges and Tugs, a leading river and coastal logistics provider in Thailand, for Bt73 million.

This would raise its holding in the firm to 55 per cent.