KUCHING: Industrial gas manufacturer BIG Industries Bhd expects to grow its customer base in the energy-intensive industry with its expansion project in Samalaju Industrial Park (SIP) in Bintulu.
The company has established a new branch at SIP and completed phase one of the project in August.
“We expect to receive the occupation permit and commence carbon dioxide refilling activities in the fourth quarter of this year (4Q24),” according to BIG chairman Datuk Lee Chuen Wan in the company’s 2024 annual report.
He said the set up of the Samalaju branch is to support the company’s existing customers and to grow its customer base in SIP, which is home to energy-intensive industries like aluminium and ferroalloy smelters.
BIG is Sarawak’s pioneer industrial gas operator since the company’s establishment in Miri in1982. The group manufactures, distributes and markets industrial gases, provides services and maintenance and trading in related products in Sarawak, Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia.
The group has manufacturing plants with refilling facilities strategically located in Kuching, Miri and Bintulu and refilling facilities in Labuan, Sandakan (Sabah) and Lumut (Perak).
In the 12 months to the financial year ended June 30, 2024 (FY24), BIG supplied liquid nitrogen to Malaysia LNG Sdn Bhd and Air Liquide Malaysia Sdn Bhd; liquid oxygen to Air Liquide Malaysia, Suri Seri Begawan Hospital in Kuala Belait (Brunei) and Borneo Specialist Hospital Kuching, as well as compressed gases to Press Metal
group, CHEC Construction (M) Sdn Bhd, Dayang Enterprise Sdn Bhd and KKB Engineering Bhd.
In FY24, its gas segment’s pre-tax profit climbed to RM5.23mil from RM1.57mil in FY23 on higher revenue of RM25.35mil from RM24.18mil previously, as sales of compressed gases and liquid gases grew by 4% and 5%, respectively.
BIG will cease operations of its loss-making gas depot in Labuan in the current quarter and has put up for sale the land and buildings there. The company recently closed down the Pasir Gudang branch and disposed the land and building there.
Besides industrial gas operations, BIG group is into property development in Sabah and Sarawak.
Lee said the group’s latest residential development – Suasana Melalin@Kota Kinabalu – had recorded strong sales, with 75 units out of the total 78 units being sold.
Suasana Melalin is a two-phase development, comprising 71 units of double-storey terrace houses, six units of double-storey semi-detached houses and one unit bungalow with an estimated gross development value of RM37mil.
BIG’s upcoming property development is an industrial project called Kidurong 12@ Bintulu, which comprises 12 units of industrial buildings.
The Bintulu Development Authority has endorsed the development plan for Kidurong 12@Bintulu and BIG is awaiting the approval of the plan by the Sarawak State Planning Unit.
BIG had ceased the operation of its loss-making ready-mixed concrete operations in Sabah three months ago, and the company was the pioneer ready-mixed concrete operator there since 1984.
The decision to cease operations was due to lower construction activities within the company’s batching plant’s supply radius, increased labour and procurement costs and weaker orders. In FY24, it reported a higher after-tax profit of RM4.95mil from FY23’s RM2.68mil, as revenue expanded to RM38.64mil from RM37.23mil previously.
