Quasem Industries starts operation of Artificial Quartz unit
USA-based Sunstone to buy products
FE REPORT | Tuesday, 21 June 2022
Quasem Industries, an engineering sector listed firm, started commercial operation of artificial quartz product manufacturing unit on Monday.
The unit was established in collaboration with USA-based Sunstone International, LLC. Apart from exporting artificial quartz products in USA, the company will also sell it in the local market, company officials said.
Sunstone will buy products from Quasem Industries, according to the agreement.
The dry cell battery and food product manufacturer has set up the artificial quartz product manufacturing factory at a cost of about Tk 920 million as part of its strategy to diversify its portfolio, company officials said.
The company also informed in a filing with the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) on Monday that they successfully completed the final trial operation of artificial quartz product manufacturing unit (AQPMU) on June 16.
Artificial quartz, also called engineered quartz, is a manmade product created mostly from natural materials.
Mineral quartz products are super-expensive. So there is a global demand for artificial quartz. Different products - such as tiles, glass, and optical items - are made of quartz.
The most common application of artificial quartz is indoor flooring and walls, while the quartz-based product is used primarily for kitchen countertops as an alternative to laminate or granite.
Earlier on 25 February 2020, Quasem Industries announced for setting up an artificial quartz product manufacturing unit.
Despite the news, its share price closed at Tk 66 each, losing 0.90 per cent over the previous day. Its shares traded between Tk 43.50 and Tk 72.10 in the last one year.
The company's earnings per share plunged 71.30 per cent to Tk 0.33 in nine months for July 2021 to March 2022, as against Tk 1.15 for July 2020-March 2021.
Listed in 1989, the company disbursed a 10 per cent stock dividend for the year ended on June 30, 2021.
The company's paid-up capital is Tk 727.27 million and authrosied capital is Tk 2.0 billion while total number of securities is 72.72 million.
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