Kelington Group Bhd (KGB), which installs ultra-high purity gas and chemical infrastructure, is eyeing more opportunities in China’s light emitting diodes (LED) market.
Group president and chief operating officer Ong Weng Leong said the company already had LED jobs in China but expected to capitalise further on the growth prospects there.
“We are already doing some jobs in China. But we believe the LED market will grow and offer a lot of potential,” he told StarBiz.
Ong said the company had also done jobs for companies in Malaysia, but felt that the prospects were no where near as great as China.
According to reports, the Chinese the 2010 Chinese lighting market reached US$12.2bil (RM39bil) in 2010, accounting for 15.4 per cent of the global market share, buoyed by continued economic growth and infrastructure expansion.
Reports claim that the Chinese lighting market share can is expected to rise to 18.3 per cent in 2015, with the total Chinese market value reaching US$20bil.
Ong said the demand for LED lights was spurred by international events such as the 2008 Olympics.
“LED lights are brighter, more energy efficient and last longer then fluorescent lights,” he said, adding that the only challenge facing the LED industry was the higher cost of such products.
“One of the obstacles is cost. But with mass production in the future, the price will come down.”
In March 2010, Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui announced that the Government would phase out the use of such lights in stages leading to a complete ban in 2014.
The Government will stop the import and sale of the bulbs by that date as part of efforts to save power. Traditional light bulbs, also called incandescent light bulbs, are considered less energy-efficient and, as a result, not as environmentally-friendly as compact fluorescent lamps, fluorescent tubes and LEDs.
Chin said the use of these bulbs would help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 732,000 tonnes a year.
“The policy will enable the use of energy more effectively and wisely as users will be encouraged to use compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) and LED,” he was quoted as saying in previous reports, adding that the move was also part of the Government’s commitment to reduce carbon intensity by about 40 per cent by 2020.
Ong applauded the move by the Government to boost the demand for the local LED industry, adding however that it needed to attract more investors to be able to grow the segment.
Other then China, Ong said Taiwan also offered good prospects in the LED industry.
According to a recent report by The China Post, the Taiwanese government has decided to invest 2.8 billion Taiwan dollars (RM297.89mil) within three years to replace the existing 326,000 mercury street lights with LEDs.
The move is estimated to generate 4.5 billion Taiwan dollars in production value for the LED lighting industry and save power consumption by 143 million kilowatt-hours per year.
