Aluminium by-products substituting wood

Aluminium extrusions now stand as a prime alternative to wood in the country’s construction sector for their attractive appearance, lightweight, strength, corrosion resistance, durability, easy fabrication and maintenance.

Most modern office complexes and houses are now decorated with aluminium-extrusion products and plate glass.

Builders prefer such products for exterior pane, doors, windows, railings of verandas, staircases and corridors, or sliding frames. Besides, such products are also used in making furniture, automobile accessories as well as ladders.

Industry insiders think that the use of aluminium-extrusion products in the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban made them popular in Bangladesh but it took until late 1970s for the Bangladeshi manufacturers to hit the local market.

Now there is around Tk 1,000-crore investment in the sector while the market demand is nearly 60,000 tonnes per annum and 10 local companies meet 90 per cent of the domestic demand, they said.

Major market players in Bangladesh’s aluminium extrusion sector are — PHP Group, Bangladesh Thai Al uminium Ltd, KAI Bangladesh Aluminium, Chung Hua Aluminium Industry Ltd, Dhaka Thai, and Nikki Thai Aluminium Ltd.

The global aluminium extrusion market size was valued at $57.29 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.8 per cent from 2021 to 2028, according to Grand View Research.

The market size valued in 2021 is $63.73 billion and the estimated revenue forecast is $104.15 billion in 2028, the Grand View data shows. The Asia-Pacific region dominated the global market and accounted for the largest revenue share of over 74 per cent in 2020.

The region will retain its dominant position throughout the forecast years for the construction boom in China, India, Vietnam, Japan, and South Korea.

Sudipto Saha of Dhaka Thai Limited told The Business Post they produce all kinds of aluminium profiles for windows, doors, LED light, ladders, pipes, and curtain walls. “The growth of the sector is going up by 15 to 20 per cent every year. In the past decade, the sector witnessed almost a double-digit growth,” he said.

The executive claimed that Dhaka Thai Limited has the biggest factory in Bangladesh producing 1,200 tonnes of aluminium profile every month against a nationwide demand of around seven to eight thousand tonnes.

Dhaka Thai will bring new products to meet customer demand and increase its market share, he said, adding that the price hike of raw materials in the international market left an impact on local industry.

“The price increased in three phases in the past one year. The prices went up by around 30 per cent due to various reasons including increased global demand,” Sudipto argued.

Bangladesh Thai Aluminium Ltd is one of the pioneers in Aluminium-extrusion products. The company came to market in 1979 and now has a production capacity 1,000 tonnes per month. The company invested Tk 1,277.75 million up to March this year out of authorised capital Tk 2,000 million.

“We always try to serve people by manufacturing and distributing quality aluminium profiles for structural and other purposes in a more reliable, competitive and environmentally friendly manner,” said Rubina Hamid, chairperson, Bangladesh Thai Aluminium Ltd.

PHP Family Executive Director Mustafa Jamal Hossain told The Business Post the demand for aluminium-extrusion products is increasing sharply for their attractive appearance, lightweight, strength, corrosion resistance, durability, ease in fabrication and maintenance.

Maintaining product quality, absence of guidelines and uneven competitions are major challenges in the aluminium profile sector, he pointed out.

“Some aluminium factories are supplying low-quality products in the market at low prices capitalising on the absence of guidelines. The responsible government agencies should look into the issue,” he suggested.

“We would like to get some facilities as did other sectors of building materials,” Jamal said with reference to rod and cement sectors that pay 3 per cent source tax while they pay 5 per cent.

The businessman urged the government to fix it at 3 per cent, mentioning that the prices of raw materials in the international market increased by 30 to 40 per cent in the past one year and a half.

Generally, aluminium billets and ingots are imported to produce aluminium extrusion products.

The products of PHP Group came in the market 2010 and the enterprise won people’s heart in term of quality of its products.  A new product of the group is likely to hit the market this month — PHP Shiny — which is a top a quality aluminium extrusion product.

“We serve 10 per cent of the total market share in Bangladesh. Our growth rate is 10 to 15 per cent per annum. Our sales were 949 tonnes in 2016 that increased to 2028 tonnes in 2020,” said Jamal.

“We expect the sales will grow by 3500 to 4000 tonnes in 2021 as we have set up new machines that raised our production capacity to around 7800 tonnes per annum.”

Alem Khan, an aluminium profile retailer and Proprietor of Brothers Glass and Thai Aluminium, said once people used wood products in different assignments for building office complexes and houses but now the trend has changed.

Besides, wood products get damaged in a short time compared to aluminium products. The shortage of timber is also encouraging people to prefer aluminium extrusion profiles, he said.

Alem Khan posited that around seven items of products including aluminium and glasses are needed for fitting a complete work.

“We sell products of PHP, Dhaka Thai and KAI Bangladesh at Tk 260 to Tk 350 per square foot,” he mentioned.

Echoing the same as Alem, Yousuf Sheikh, Proprietor of Anvil Thai Glass in Dhaka, said they sell the products of Maxx, ALCO, Chung Hua, PHP and Nikki.

“The prices depend on product quality and seize. Besides, we have enough employees who go to buyers home and office and complete decoration,” he added.

Yousuf added that their business felt the pinch due to the pandemic as people suspended their construction work due to a reduced income. Besides, the prices of aluminium products increased that also left an impact on the sales.

Real Estate & Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) Vice President Kamal Mahmud said there is a huge potential of aluminium-extrusion products in Bangladesh as many are using the items for their houses, office and commercial buildings.

“Aluminium profiles are one of 20 significant items among our 300 linkage products for construction work.  Despite lesser durability compared to brick-and-cement walls, we use it as fabricators can create better designs with it and it easily portable,” explained the business leader.