Surint Omya Chemicals (Thailand) Co Ltd, a maker of calcium-carbonate products, is spending Bt1.2 billion to expand production capacity in Thailand and Vietnam.

Demand for calcium carbonate - a raw material for making paper, rubber, plastic and paints - is increasing as the Kingdom and Vietnam continue developing, according to Sasis Monsereenusorn, cheif executive of the company.

Surint Omya, with registered capital of Bt500 million, is a joint venture by the Surint family, which holds a 51-per-cent stake, and Switzerland-based Omya AG (49 per cent).

The Bt800-million Thai factory will be built near its existing plant in Lop Buri province.

It will produce 200,000 tonnes per year, boosting the company's total capacity to 1 million tonnes a year after it opens in August.

The Bt400-million Vietnamese venture, slated to open in December.

It will have the capacity to produce 100,000 tonnes a year of high-end calcium carbonate.

The factory will be built in the Go Dau Industrial Park in Dong Nai Province near Ho Chi Minh City.

Surint Omya counts among its largest customers TOA Paint (Thailand) Ltd, Thai Plastic and Chemicals Plc, Bangkok Cable Ltd, Advance Agro Plc, Unilever Thai Holdings Ltd and consumer-product producer Colgate-Palmolive (Thailand) Ltd.

Sasis said half of the investment would be funded with bank loans, and half would be generated internally.

The firm logged sales of Bt1 billion in 2005 and hopes to increase them 10 per cent this year.

The company's sales growth could be as high as 36 per cent - or Bt1.5 billion - in 2007, with the domestic market accounting for Bt1.3 billion and Vietnam the rest, Sasis said.