Executive director Tai Shzee Yuan said there was good demand for chemicals from the manufacturing sector in tandem with the booming China economy.

On that note, its subsidiary Shanghai Sino-Malaysia International Trading Co Ltd (SSMIT) would appoint more chemical agents and suppliers to capture a bigger market share.

“We are eyeing Guangdong and Fujian provinces to distribute additive and silicone surfactant,” Tai told StarBiz after the company AGM recently.

He said the highest demand for such products in China came from these provinces, as their manufacturing industry was the most developed in the republic.

Among the products manufactured are bedding, cushion padding, car seats and sofas.

Tai said SSMIT would distribute the products produced by Shanghai Songjiang Momentive Performance Materials Co Ltd and Momentive Performance Materials Hong Kong Co Ltd. 

He said SSMIT would also work closely with BASF Polyurethanes (China) Co Ltd to develop an environmental-friendly polyurethane binder.

“We will continue to strengthen our distribution network of polyols in the East China Region,” said Tai.

SSMIT has the marketing rights to cover Zhejiang and North Jiangsu provinces to distribute polyols from CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Co Ltd (CSPCL) since 2005.

SSMIT is one of the key distributors in the East China Region with a market share of about 33% for polyols valued at about 900 million renminbi.

He said there were many local producers of chemicals in China but the quality was questionable, unlike those produced by CSPCL which was highly regarded by clients.

Tai said the company had consolidated its garments-related operations in Malaysia and hoped to return to the black in the current financial year.

For the financial year ended June 30, 2007 (FY07), Yong Tai recorded RM162.29mil in revenue compared with RM92.06mil in FY06. 

Its pre-tax loss dropped to RM2.56mil in FY07 to RM19.66mil previously.