Raigam's salt units do well, aim to monopolise the market
Raigam Wayambha Salterns PLC wants to monopolise the salt market in Sri Lanka but says it is being deterred by small timers in the market who appear to be offering a bigger margin to the retailers.
This was stated by company Chairman/Executive Director Ravi Liyanage, at a media briefing held in Colombo last week where he announced that the company has recorded an all-time high revenue of Rs. 723.4 million in 2016/17 compared to Rs. 414.6 million in the previous year.
He said the company was established in 2005 as a subsidiary of Raigam Group of companies with the objective of developing the salt market in this country which was dominated by imports earlier. The progress made by the Wayamba Salterns has prompted them to list it in the Colombo Stock Exchange.
He said the company issued 80 million shares at Rs. 2.50 per share for a minimum subscription of Rs. 2,500 and it was a success being 20 times oversubscribed.
Dr. Liyanage further said that there were bad experiences in the share market due to unethical attempts by some companies who entered the market to grab opportunities during the post war period.
Small-time producers, he said, offer a bigger margin to the trader and owing to this higher margin these retailers are inclined to sell the small-timer's product. He said that they manage to service the market because of their prudent stock management practices. He said that the salt refinery and the Pure Vacuum Dried (PVD) salt plant which is located in Puttalam is used to harvest raw salt and directly distribute from the Western Region to Northern Region to take the comparative advantage of low distribution cost.
Ganaka Amarasinghe, CEO/Executive Director elaborated on the progress made by the Raigam Salt Refinery in Hambantota which supplies salt to the Southern and Uva regions.
Dr. Liyanage further said that there were bad experiences in the share market due to unethical attempts by some companies who entered the market to grab opportunities during the post war period.