China Market ExpansionACE/Security Laminates: China Market Expansion... 'Even Bigger than Previously Projected'; Distributor Order for May over US$400,000
Thursday May 19, 4:48 pm ET
OTTAWA, CANADA--(CCNMatthews - May 19, 2005) - ACE Security Laminates(TM) Corporation (TSX VENTURE:ASL - News) announced today that Chinese distribution segments of ACE products has purchased over US$400,000 of ACE products for the month of May alone. The terms of the sale were 10% cash deposit, followed by 40% cash at order preparation and the balance upon shipment. "The Chinese market is proving to be a strong and lucrative market in that their growth is phenomenal and concerns about security are significant," said Peter Fabian, ACE Chairman and CEO.
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General Motors (NYSE: GM-news-people) estimates that 74 million Chinese families (about 20% of the population) can afford to buy cars. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, production for the first eight months of 2003 has been 2,781,800 units, up 36% from the same eight months in 2002. For passenger cars alone, output accelerated almost 92% to 1,223,400 units through the start of this month. The total length of highways in China ranked second among nations at the end of 2002. In 1997, China was 39th.
China has grown to be the third largest commercial construction market in the world with over US$404 billion in 2002 and expanding at the rate of 8.2% per year ever since then. By 2015 the World Bank predicts that half of the world's new building construction will take place in China. A vast majority of these projects are very large, such as commercial office buildings between 1 to 1.5 million square feet and residential developments involving 5 million square feet of construction area.
Although the growth rate in percentage terms may slow in major cities, the real estate market will, nevertheless, remain strong. "Value growth of five to ten percent and volume growth of 20 percent are anticipated for the Shanghai property market in 2004," says Jason Hui, executive director of Shimao Group, a major developer of high-end properties in Hong Kong and China. "This expansion is driven by the increase in both commercial and residential demand. Besides high-end properties, there are also many opportunities for office buildings, shopping malls and hotels," he adds.
"ACE is taking a variety of steps to accelerate the growth of the Chinese market and tighten the distributor relationships, but most importantly we are convinced that our tight quality control and outstanding product line will fuel continued large orders in the Chinese markets," continued Mr. Fabian. ACE acknowledged that it is working on expansion and breakthroughs in other countries as well. "There seems to be a significant demand for our products in the emerging nations," offered Peter Fabian.
ACE/Security Laminates(TM) Corporation specializes in manufacturing and distributing, through a worldwide network of dealers, safety and security window laminating technology. Since 1999, ACE has established a presence in 40 countries. ACE produces a micro thin polyester laminate that, when applied to glass, protects against baseball bats, crowbars, rocks, fire, Molotov cocktails, bombs, bullets and natural disasters.
The advantages of ACE's products are found in their protective capabilities, transparent finish, and simple application to existing windows. What makes ACE's security laminates the obvious choice when protecting people and property is the extensive third party testing they have undergone against threat levels ranging from break and entry to bullets and bombs; demonstrating the product's high-end performance.