Malaysian firm in JV to build precast manufacturing plant

Malaysian construction company ML Global Bhd formed a joint venture with China’s Sany Group Co. Ltd to build a plant for manufacturing precast concrete panel, as reported by Nikkei Asian Review.

ML Global will hold a 51 per cent stake in the joint venture, while Sany’s Group’s local outfit Sany Construction Industry Development (M) Sdn Bhd holds the balance 49 per cent.

The first phase of the plant is proposed to be built within the next six months in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, with an initial investment of up to RM40 million. It will have the capacity to produce precast concrete panels for up to 2,000 apartments per year.

The partnership comes ahead of the Construction Industry Development Board’s (CIDB) goal of enforcing a 50 per cent industrial building system (IBS) usage for private-sector projects and 70 per cent for public-sector projects by next year, as outlined in the Construction Industry Transformation Programme (CITP).

IBS refers to pre-fabrication construction that involves manufacturing components of a structure at an off-site factory. The semi-finished components are then transported to be assembled at the construction site. This system is expected to lower construction time by 30 per cent, allowing for faster delivery of projects, according to ML Global Executive Director and CEO Datuk Richard Lim, as reported in The Edge.

ML Global is 55.3 per cent-owned by LBS Bina Group Bhd. Sany Group is a multinational, heavy machinery manufacturing company headquartered in Changsha, Hunan. — Construction+ Online