Home ›› 23 Aug 2021 ›› Front
Once highly dependent on import, Bangladesh is now meeting 95 per cent demand for all categories of fans from domestic sources as local investors turned to realise the market potential.
The turnaround took place since 2000 when angel investors came up with big investment that boosted production capacity leading to self-sufficiency.
According to industry people, the annual demand for ceiling fans is about 50 lakh while that for pedestal, wall, rechargeable and exhaust fans nearly 45 lakh.
As of 2020, the market size of fans is Tk 2,000 crore to Tk 2,500 crore while its annual growth is around 10 to 15 per cent.
Currently, there are about 100 local brands and non-brand fans meeting 95 per cent of domestic demand.
Local fan companies including Jamuna, National and Millat pioneered the business after liberation war in 1971. In the last two decades, nearly 100 local companies came into being to become market players.
The fan dealers said the country won’t have to import electric products anymore in future if the government provides proper policy support for the local enterprises.
In a recent visit to Nawabpur Taj Electric wholesale market, Jatrabari and Rampura retail markets, it was seen that the sale of a good number of locally produced brand and non-brand fans gained momentum.
The local companies that manufacture fans include National, Jamuna, Vision, Walton, City fan, Sakura, Gazi, Arafat, Prime, ADC, AP, BBC, BRB, BJM, JFC, ATC, CFC, RFC, TBS, Balaka, Concord, Gold Star, Nishan, Silica, Tiger, Tisha, Cedar, Jony, Noha, Super Star, Deluxe, Bangla fan, Konean, Tushar, Eco, Navana, Modhumoti, Al Habib, Al Rashid, Rocket, Bismillah, Jeddah, Arix, Lucky, V-Tech, Himalaya, Gazi, etc.
According to the business insiders, National, Jamuna, Vision, Walton, BRB and City fan companies, among others, are the top players dominating the market.
Jamuna Group Director Mohammed Alamgir Alam claimed they are the market leader in fan business having around 60 per cent market share.
“Jamuna fans were launched in 1974. We stopped fan business for several years but now we are back and doing great,” he added.
Nearly 50 lakh people are engaged directly and indirectly in the fan segment.
“We also produce fan coils and sell hundreds of thousands of fans every year giving 10-15 years of service warranty for local fans,” noted the director.
“Considering the rising demand, we have made investment in producing different types of fans locally under two brands namely Vision and Click, thus reducing import dependency,” PRAN-RFL Group Director (Marketing) Kamruzzaman Kamal told The Business Post.
The company is marketing a variety of fans including ceiling, table, stand, high speed, wall, exhaust and rechargeable and net-ceiling fans.
“Our market share is around 20 per cent. Now we export our fans to Fiji, Nepal and Burkina Faso. We plan to export to many countries including India too in future,” he hoped.
PRAN-RFL Group will bring some new fans such as anti-dust fan, rechargeable, ceiling, dining, kitchen and toilet fans in future in the market.
The CEO of Walton Electrical Appliances Sohel Rana said they launched Walton fans -- ceiling, pedestal, wall, rechargeable and exhaust fans -- in the market in 2015. The company occupies 15 per cent share of the total fan market.
“Our sales have come down during Covid-19. We sold fans worth Tk 250 crore in 2020. Our target is to make a sale of Tk 500 crore in 2021. We hope that we will be able to sell fans worth Tk 1,000 crore yearly within two-three years,” said Sohel.
Like Pran-RFL, Walton has also been exporting fans to India, Nepal and Mali of West Africa since 2019 and is in an effort to expand its export destinations.
The proprietor of Lockman Electric at Sundarbans Square Market Lokman Ahmed said they sell only locally produced fans in wholesale and retail prices.
“We sell different types of fans including City fan, Sakura, Gazi, Arafat, Prime, Balaka, JFC, Al Habib, Al Rashid, Rocket, Bismillah and Jeddah.
“Once there was a big demand for foreign products but now the demand for local fans has gone up due to reasonable prices. Our local products are not bad in terms of quality,” he added.
The entire fan market in the country is nearly worth Tk 2,500 crore. There are 15 brand companies and nearly 100 non-brand companies meeting local demand. Local companies give a warranty of 1-12 years. So buyers tend to purchase local products more.
Md Sojol Hossain Sad, manager of Asia Plus at Nawabpur Taj Electric Market, said they are wholesaler and supplier of foreign fans including Asia Fan, Conion, Orient, Usha, Bajaj and Luminus fans.
“We purchase the fans from dealers in the port city. The fans are brought from India, Pakistan, China, Thailand, Japan and Korea by ship,” he said.
Sojol added that the price of foreign brands like CK Birla Group, Havells, Usha, Luminous, Asia Plus, Bajaj, Pak Panjab, Pak Air, etc, ranges from Tk 3,000 to Tk 20,000. Hasibul Islam, sales executive of Janata Electric Shop at Rampura, said they sell National fan at Tk 2,750, Lucky ceiling fan at between Tk 2,800 and Tk 2,900, TBS Tk 1,600 to Tk 1,700, Superstar Tk 2,800 to Tk 2,900, BJM small size Tk 850 to Tk 900, Sony Tk 800 to Tk 850, Himalaya Tk 1,700 to Tk 1,800, Galaxy and Kashmir Gold at Tk 2,950.
A Shariatpur man Abdur Rahman said he came to Nawabpur market to purchase several ceiling fans.
“Most of the local fan companies give a 10-year warranty on their products. So I bought local fans. Its prices are affordable and quality is good,” he added.
Bangladesh Electrical Association Chair Shahadat Hossain Bhuiyan told The Business Post that local companies are now meeting 95 per cent demand of the fan market.
“We are going through a difficult time due to the pandemic. Though a huge number of people are engaged in this sector, we are deprived of incentives provided by the government to other sectors,” he added.
Shahadat urged the government to extend stimulus package for the local industry.
