BSA International Bhd Group (BSA) is confident of being ranked among the world’s top 10 alloy wheel manufacturers by 2007, said executive chairman Tan Sri Cam Soh Thiam Hong. He said after the Liaoning province investment conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday that the future was bright for the group.

Soh said the global demand for aluminium alloy wheels was expected to be mainly driven by the original equipment manufacturing (OEM) sub-sector and the group had the infrastructure in place to meet the demand from the OEM market.

The group owns a factory in Fushun city, Liaoning province. Soh said the Fushun facility, whose acquisition was completed in February, would cater to the huge OEM market in China.
“It is currently producing one million wheels annually, but when we get an OEM contract we will increase it up to two million wheels a year.

“Our target for the next two years is to tie up with carmakers in China. We are in talks with them to supply alloy wheels,” he said adding that the group was currently supplying some automobile parts to China carmakers.

The group is also supplying to other carmakers like Hyundai Beijing and will supply to Hyundai Korea in September. It is now supplying 15-inch and 16-inch alloy wheels to the carmaker.
On the operations in China, Soh said: “Unlike in Malaysia, we do not face any problem with capacity in China. We are limited in our production in Malaysia partly due to the shortage of skilled labour.
“In China, there is plenty of labour and the workers can be trained quite easily, too.
“The timing of our investment in China is very good. The central government has decided to develop the north east of the country, where the Fushun plant is located,” he said.

Soh said the group planned to list its China unit on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. BSA is involved in the manufacture, sales and distribution of automotive aluminium alloy wheels, installation, and trading of tyres and related automotive accessories.

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