Battery factory needs lead supply from Laos
Battery factory needs lead supply from Laos
A recently established battery manufacturing venture in Savannakhet province is in danger of falling flat unless a domestic supply of lead can be sourced to power-up the operation.
Due to the lack of a local lead supply, the two-year old battery factory, PowerPro, Inc., ceased operations a couple of weeks ago as raw materials from Delhi, India will not arrive for another four weeks.
Managing Director of PowerPro, Mr Sing Chan told in an interview last Wednesday that the company needs a sufficient supply of lead sourced in the Lao PDR or else the venture “will die within one year.”
The factory, which was established with registered capital of around US$2-million, successfully exported its products to Hong Kong for the first time last week, Mr Chan said.
“After that shipment, the factory had to stop because there is no more material,” he explained, adding that they import lead from India, which is about 8,000 miles away from Savannakhet. “It's extremely costly. No one else in the battery world would do this,” he stressed.
Mr Chan said he has requested help from various government agencies, particularly the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. It appears the government is willing to help and he was advised to find a suitable location from which lead can be sourced.
Chan said he submitted an application to conduct a survey to the ministry's Department of Mines last Monday, noting that it “clearly indicated the location of the potential prospects.”
The prospect areas cited were Luang Prabang, Phongsaly, Xayaboury and Huaphan provinces, according to his information.
Chan said that PowerPro chose to locate its fac tory in Laos, among other countries in Southeast Asia, as it has the cheapest electricity and water and vast available land. Most notably though, it has huge potential sources of lead, which is a primary material in battery manufacturing.
He also listed Laos' comparatively cheap labour among the reasons for locating here, explaining that the company sent 25 Lao workers to China, where they learned the technical skills necessary to work for the factory in Savannakhet.
The company wants to invest in exploration and mining, he continued, because none of the three large mining companies that operate here are interested in lead mining operations as yet.
With an actual capital of “a little bit over US$3 million,” PowerPro has calculated that it can save up to 30 percent of production costs if it can source a domestic supply of lead here in Laos, Chan said.
He added that with the coming of zero export tariffs to other Asean countries, the company can save even more as its products are made by Lao people.
Chan is expecting the government's response to his application for survey permission to be favourable. If the company is successful in extracting lead from the potential areas, it will use all the supply in the manufacturing process without wasting a single drop, he said.
“We will not export concentrates of lead,” he said, adding that the company wants to do all its manufacturing in the province, which will boost gross national product in Laos.
Lorie Ann Cascaro works for Vientiane Times as an exchange journalist under the FK Norway programme and is a reporter for MindaNews.
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