Pands investing in Thai and Lao mines

Pands Group, a Thai family-owned mining and milling company has set up a joint venture with Australia’s Matsa Corp. to invest at least $200M US Dollars over the next 2 years to establish new mines in Thailand and Laos.

Pands, which has been in the mining business for forty years, and the Australian miner both hold an equal 50%-stake in the joint venture, Pands Matsa Corporation, which was set up earlier this year, said Thoomchan Samitasiri, Pands’ deputy managing director.

The venture has invested about $10 million in exploration development of its mine in Loei province in rummage around of zinc, silver and copper.

”The exploration would be done by the middle of next year and we will then invest another $200 million for the production,” Mr. Thoomchan said.

Currently, Pands operates mines in Kanchanaburi, Tak and Nakhon Si Thammarat province. It mainly produces baryte used in petroleum exploration and dolomite for steel industry.

Mr.Thoomchan said the joint-venture company was waiting for the Laotian government to grant it a mining licence there. So far, the company has invested $5 million to develop steel mine in Chaisomboon, north of Vientiane.

”Approximately 800 million baht would be invested in the project, which is expected to become operational by the end of this year for the production of 70,000 to 200,000 tons of steel per month,” he said.

The project in Laos primarily targets steel smelting facilities in Thailand, he added.

Pands yesterday announced the sale of a 70% stake in wholly owned Pands Group Logistics Co (PGL) to Eternity Grand Logistics Plc (ETG), a logistics services provider listed on the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI) stock market.

”By off-loading a stake in our logistics business, Pands from now on is able to focus only on our key mining and milling businesses,” said Mr. Thoomchan.

”Logistics is not our aptitude and now we have a proficient in the business as a partner to help us, especially for transporting steel from Laos to Thailand.”


Following the transaction, PGL raised its capital from five million baht to 55 million. The company aims to double its revenue from a targeted 122 million baht this year to 244 million next year and 320 million in 2010.

ETG managing director Poonsak Thiapairat said the acquisition was part of the company’s strategy to become a leading regional logistics provider by 2010.

”We see a chance to raise our business collectively in the future as ETG and Pands have their own strengths that complement each other,” said Mr Poonsak.

ETG has so far focused on handling semi-finished and finished goods for modern trade operators and automobile manufacturers, while Pands is strong in primary products such as fertiliser, corn seeds, beans and cement, he added. With the acquisition, ETG is making inroads to Laos and the company targets Vietnam in the next stage.The company projects revenue to grow to two billion baht by 2010, up from last year’s 1.08 billion baht and 1.3 billion baht expected for this year.

Mr Poonsak said ETG was in talks with strategic partners _ both locals and firms from Japan and Europe to acquire its stake through a capital increase expected in mid-2008.

ETG shares closed yesterday at 4.82 baht, up 0.02 baht, in trade worth 345,000 baht.