Japan's giant aluminium manufacturer, Daiki Aluminium Industry (Thailand) Co, plans to expand its investment here, increasing capacity of aluminium alloy ingot to meet rising demand, says president Takaaki Yamamoto.
Daiki ranks Thailand as its biggest aluminium hub in Asean in terms of production capacity. It expects demand from the automotive and electronics industries to rebound as they recover.
"We want to raise our capacity substantially over the next two years when demand from car manufacturers is expected to reach to 3 million tonnes, up from 2 million per year," he said.
Daiki Aluminium (Thailand) is a top three aluminium producer globally. It controls 40% of the Thai market with total consumption of 22,000 tonnes a month.
Mr Yamamoto said the company plans to invest in better technology to aid efficiency and productivity. However, it urged the Thai government to work on producing more skilled labour to meet rising demand.
He said the company has attracted other Japanese industries to start investing and expanding in Thailand, which would spur skilled labour demand in the near future.
"We know Thailand has a new policy to promote investment and upgrade its industries to become more modern. That matches the Japanese strategy of expanding investment here in Thailand, where is a major industrial hub," he said.
Daiki (Thailand) started investing locally in 1999 with a budget of 500 million baht.
The company is mulling an investment budget for the third phase of its factory in Amata City Industrial Estate in Rayong. It has production capacity of 7,500-8,500 tonnes per month, of which 90% is for domestic automotive and electronics industries, with 10% of output designated for exports.
Daiki also has aluminium factories in China, Malaysia and Indonesia, with strong sales networks in Japan, Malaysia, Poland, Russia and the US.