Safety concerns raise fire security equipment demand

The growing safety concerns coupled with mandatory provisions in building code and steady economic growth have driven the fire safety equipment market in Bangladesh which is growing by around 15 per cent year-on-year. 

Despite the double-digit growth over the past decade, the market still remains almost import-dependent. 

Fire disasters at Sezan juice factory, Chawkbazar chemical warehouse, Tazreen Fashions, Nimtali chemical warehouse, FR Tower in Banani, and the most recent fire on a moving vessel, MV Avijan 10, have pushed the demand for fire safety equipment up.

Bangladesh experienced the highest 24,074 incidents of fire in 2019 followed by 21,073 in 2020.

The Fire Service and Civil Defence data shows 99,752 incidents of fires in the country between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2020 and the fire incidents caused an estimated financial loss of Tk 14.6 crore and the firefighters could save assets worth Tk 72.16 crore.  

The most demanded fire safety equipment is the fire extinguisher. Apart from that, fire blankets, firefighter helmets and hoods, fire hose reels, signage, sprinklers, emergency and exit signs, fire-resistant doors, hydrant, and smoke alarms are also high in demand.

Only two Bangladeshi companies – PRAN-RFL Group and Partex – manufacture fire doors, and are thinking of moving to other items considering their rising demand. 

Md Abul Hossain, vice-president, Fire Fighting Equipment Business Owners Association of Bangladesh, told The Business Post that once industrial units were the major buyer of fire safety equipment but now residential buildings, hospitals, banks and offices are using fire safety and security equipment for growing safety concerns and provisions in rules that made the use of fire safety equipment mandatory. 

The association said they are totally dependent on imported products as local entrepreneurs are yet to show interest in manufacturing such products.

Most of the safety equipment comes from China, the UAE, the UK, the US, Malaysia and some European countries. Nearly 80 per cent of security equipment are imported from China and other parts from Malaysia and some European countries, said the importers.

Mohammad Shamim Ahmed Bhuiyan, founder president of the association, told The Business Post that the yearly turnover in the fire safety equipment business is more than Tk 5,000 crore with a 10-15 per cent growth.

Its General Secretary Md Wahid Uddin said the volume of the fire safety and security equipment business almost doubled in the past 10 years.

Electronic Safety and Security Association of Bangladesh vice-president Mohammad Monzur Alam, however, said there is no official statistics about the market size but they estimate it to be more than Tk 5,000 crore.

The leaders of the organisation maintained that they sell more than 5 lakh units of fire extinguishers every year and around 500 entrepreneurs refill fire extinguisher cylinders in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur and Chattogram.

Fire Safety Equipment Manufacturers and Suppliers Association of Bangladesh president Md Moniruzzaman said the yearly turnover in refilling fire extinguisher cylinders is more than Tk 500 crore. 

Carbon dioxide, dry powder, foam, clean agents and wet chemicals used for refilling the fire extinguisher cylinders are imported from China, he said.  

According to a 2022 CPD study on Industrial Safety of Non-RMG Enterprises and Workers Monitoring Transparency, Accountability and Efficiency of Public Actions, the number of manufacturing establishments has doubled over the past two decades.

In early 2000, the number of SMIs (including RMG and non-RMG) was 24,752 which reached 46,110 in 2019.

The study showed the rise of a considerable number of industrial enterprises such as agriculture, manufacturing, food processing, plastic products, etc.

Mohammad Monzur Alam, vice-president of Electronics Safety and Security Association of Bangladesh, said the increase in industrial enterprises and expansion of special economic zones played a major role in expanding the fire safety and security equipment market.

“The rules concerned now made it mandatory to install the fire safety and security equipment in all factories and private companies and it also contributed to the expansion of our product market. About 45,000 newly built factories are under inspection over their fire safety and security measures,” he added. 

Problems faced by the stakeholders

Import of fire safety and security equipment for the RMG sector enjoys a duty-free facility but other businesses need to pay high tariffs for the same equipment that often hold them back to install the mandatory equipment, said the importers.

FEBOAB president Md Niaz Ali Chisty said importers have to pay 58.6 per cent tax for fire doors, fire alarm cable and hose reel, 37 per cent for gate valves, 26.2 per cent for fire pump and fire alarm systems, 11.05 per cent for the fire extinguisher and 31 per cent for ABC dry powder.

For such high tax incidence, small and medium entrepreneurs often ignore installing adequate fire protection measures, Chisty said, calling for steps to ensure equal tariff for all.

The importers also require separate permits for importing carbon dioxide, foam, dry powder, and other fire-resistant gasses and chemicals, and they often face harassment at offices concerned that delays shipment of the products.

More than five importers told The Business Post that the market is now full of low-quality products as some big importers have halted importing the products as the price in the international market is high.

Scarcity of required components results in a surge of the low-quality products in the market as there is no monitoring system, they added.      

Kamruzzaman Kamal, marketing director of PRAN-RFL Group, said, “We lack basic knowledge about fire safety and security. There are some sporadic attempts to make safety and security equipment but lack of knowledge holds back investors to come in this sector.”

He added that PRAN-RFL partners with a UK-based company, Life Co, for all industrial equipment solutions. “We manufacture fire doors and assemble fire extinguisher cylinders in Bangladesh.”