Esquire Group will establish a Tk 180 crore chemical plant to produce Hydrogen per Oxide, mainly in the textile dyeing industry.
The chemical is used as a bleaching or cleaning agent in textile, dyeing, pulps and paper industries. Industry people said a new plant to manufacture the chemical would reduce the country's dependency on the import of the product.
“There are ample opportunities for marketing the product as it is imported every year to meet demand by local industries,” said Mofazzal Hossain, chairman of Esquire Group, known for its flagship company Esquire Electronics, the distributor of such electronics brands as General and Sharp.
The Group chairman made the remark as one of the subsidiaries, Esquire Chemical Industries Ltd (ECIL), struck a deal with 11 banks and financial institutions for a syndicated term loan of Tk 126 crore to set up the chemical factory in Gojaria, Munshiganj.
People close to the deal said the sponsors would provide the rest of the fund through equity financing.
AB Bank arranged the syndicated term loan as part of an agreement signed in Dhaka on August 19, when Kaiser A Chowdhury, managing director of AB Bank, managing directors and senior executives of other participating lenders were present.
The other participating banks and financial institutions are: Bank Asia, Bangladesh Commerce Bank, LankaBangla Finance, Mutual Trust Bank, One Bank, Phoenix Finance and Investment, Pubali Bank, Saudi Bangladesh Industrial and Agricultural Investment Company, Southeast Bank, and The City Bank.
ECIL officials said the company wants to produce 20,000 tonnes of Hydrogen per Oxide annually with the completion of the project next year.
“But together with all other local factories we will be able to supply only about 20 percent of total demand,” said the chairman of Esquire Group which moved to diversify its business into textile in 1993 by establishing a dyeing factory and subsequently expanded to knitting.
Esquire officials said the new venture would further boost the company's revenue earnings, as demand for the chemical product will continue to increase.
Esquire also intends to tap the potential of exports to India, saying the country has banned chlorine and bleaching powder as the chemicals pollute the environment.
Arifur Rahman, managing director of Esquire Chemical, said the plant would be completely environment friendly as he claimed the product to be completely environment friendly as well.
“It will ultimately replace the chlorine based bleaching in Bangladesh dyeing industries,” he said.
Industry insiders said ECIL would be the fourth local company to produce Hydrogen per Oxide with HP Chemical Industries leading among the locally established chemical factories.
Samuda Chemical Complex, another chemical company, is also producing the product. The company has recently planned to double its production capacity from about 10,000 tonnes a year to about 35,000 tonnes.
However, industry people said the local plants largely fail to meet demand for the chemical.