BBS Cables eyes export market
BBS Cables targets obtaining the VDE and UL certificates to be eligible to export, especially to European and the US markets
After establishing itself as one of the major producers of electrical cables, wire and conductors in the country, BBS Cables Ltd is now targeting foreign markets, especially in Europe and the USA.
To achieve the export capacity, the company is working on obtaining certificates from the Verband der Elektrotechnik (VDE) and the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) – both certifiers of safety and quality of electrical and electronic products.
"We have built modern factories to enter the export business. And we are now producing international standard power cables," said Md Nazmul Hasan, company secretary of BBS Cables.
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"We are working to obtain the VDE and UL certificates. The BBS will start export after obtaining the certificates," he added.
Certificates of the VDE and the UL play an important role for companies that want to supply power cables in the international market. The VDE is a German electrical, electronics and information technology testing and certification institute that ensures safety and quality of electronic products. The UL is a similar kind of institution based in the United States.
The international market of cables
The size of the global market of power cable is around $74,200 million. The market has a demand for three kinds of power cables: high voltage power cables, which constitute 43 percent of the demand, medium voltage cables (36 percent), and low voltage cables (21 percent).
China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia are the top countries exporting power cables.
Meanwhile, the demand for power cable has been increasing in Bangladesh at a rate of 15-20 percent annually thanks to the increasing power generation lines across the country.
At present, only two companies in Bangladesh – BRB Cable Industries Ltd and RR-Imperial Electricals Ltd – export power cables. Both the companies have the VDE and UL certificates.
BRB Cable won the bronze medal for exporting electric and electronic products in 2016-17.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh exported power cables worth Tk7.60 crore in 2018-19.
The journey of BBS Cables
BBS Cables commenced its business in 2011. It sold cables worth Tk101.46 crore in 2011-12.
Its sales increased 739 percent in the next eight years.
In 2018-19, the company sold cables worth Tk851 crore. During the period its net profit was Tk145.58 crore.
BBS Cables was listed in the share market in 2017.
In 2018-19, the company paid 10 percent cash and 10 percent stock dividends to its shareholders. It had given 10 percent cash and 15 percent stock dividends the previous year.
Company Secretary Nazmul Hasan said, "We are enhancing our production capacity because of the increasing demand in the local market. We gave stock dividends to increase our capital."
The closing price of BBS Cables's share was Tk56.50 in the Dhaka Stock Exchange on January 12. In the last one year, the maximum price of the company's share was Tk116 and the minimum price was Tk53.
