BSRM ready to produce LRPC strands
The BSRM established the LRPC strand manufacturing plant at Mirsarai in Chattogram as the steel maker looks to capitalise on the impending construction boom in Bangladesh.
BSRM Wires, a new concern of Bangladesh Steel Re-Rolling Mills (BSRM), is all set to introduce a new construction material called “Low Relaxation Prestressed Steel Strand (LRPC strand).” The LRPC strands are used in the prestressing of concrete for different kinds of construction work.
The country’s leading steel maker invested a total of around Tk 1,000 crore to establish an LRPC strand manufacturing unit under its new concern BSRM Wires, according to Tapan Sengupta, deputy managing director of the BSRM. With this investment, BSRM is catering to the Tk 3,000 crore market segment which is currently dominated by imports.
The LRPC strands have a variety of uses, one example being pre-stressed concrete girders for building roads, flyovers, river and railway bridges, prestressed concrete domes, hollow core slabs, steel beams and TT slabs, silos, hangars, aqueducts and viaducts, as well as railway sleepers.
The LRPC strands are currently being used in a number of bridges, flyovers, and tunnels that are under construction.
“The decision to manufacture LRPC strands was undertaken in order to meet the local demand,” Sengupta said. He went on to explain that Bangladesh needs around 12,000 tonnes of LRPC strands per year, whereas BSRM Wires has an annual manufacturing capacity of 30,000 tonnes. The market for LRPC strands is currently around Tk 3,000 crore per annum and is estimated to grow for the next 20 years.”
According to the deputy managing director, the new factory has been set up in anticipation of a future demand for LRPC strands, with physical infrastructure development work on the rise. He hopes that the new unit will be up and running by October 15th. Along with manufacturing import substitutes like LRPC, ACSR, and razor wire, BSRM Wires will also produce carbon dioxide wire and gabion wire.
The Bangladesh Steel Re-Rolling Mills Limited (BSRM) established the LRPC strand manufacturing plant at Mirsarai in Chattogram to take advantage of the construction boom that is anticipated in Bangladesh. The Tk 500 crore project was implemented with 70 per cent bank financing and 30 per cent equity investment. Dhaka Bank facilitated the funding for the project through syndication with six other banks — Bank Asia, City, NCC, Modhumoti and Mercantile — and one financial institution, the Saudi-Bangladesh Industrial and Agricultural Investment Company.
The new factory created over 500 new jobs, bringing the total number of people employed by the group to 4,700. This is the first and only company to manufacture LRPC strands in Bangladesh. Given the demand for the products, the group has decided to set up a new factory with some diversified product lines, Sengupta said. The BSRM logged Tk 92 crore in profit for fiscal year 2019-20, when its turnover was Tk 2,358 crore.
Dhaka Bank was the lead financier for the project, providing Tk 321 crore through a syndicated loan.
“This is a potentially very lucrative project for Bangladesh, and we believe in its business viability,” said Emranul Huq, managing director and chief executive officer of Dhaka Bank.
The loan has a seven-year term, with a grace period of one-and-a-half years. “We extended the grace period by six months due to the Covid-19 situation,” said Huq.
