OREANDA-NEWS. Kobe Steel, Ltd. has established a subsidiary company in Thailand called Kobelco Compressors (Thailand) Ltd. (or KCTH) to market and sell standard air compressors, as well as provide after-sales services. Based in Bangkok, KCTH has begun full-scale marketing from this month. It anticipates supplying 800 compressor units in 2020, amounting to sales of about 3 billion yen.

Kobe Steel’s standard compressor business is actively expanding overseas. In November last year, Kobelco Compressors India Pvt. Ltd. began marketing in India. Kobe Steel now has sales locations for its air compressors in 10 countries, and the opening of KCTH is anticipated to further expand its market share.

Standard compressors are mainly used in factories to provide compressed air for such applications as powering equipment and machinery, painting and powder conveying. Utility equipment for these applications is widely used in numerous industries. Power consumption for compressors generally comprises about 20 to 30 percent of the electricity used at factories, requiring high energy performance. Known for its high efficiency and energy-saving features, Kobe Steel’s Kobelion series of screw compressors has one of the highest market shares in Japan and Southeast Asia.

The global market size for standard compressors is approximately US$9 billion (about 1 trillion yen). As many Japanese electric machinery and electronics manufacturers have entered the Thai market, demand for compressors is anticipated to increase from the current 3,000 units to approximately 4,000 units in 2020, according to Kobe Steel estimates. On this background, KCTH was established to support the growing market and has begun commercial marketing activities.

Kobe Steel has built up a global network to market and service its standard compressors. Kobe Steel currently has manufacturing locations in three countries: Japan, the United States and China. Sales locations have been established in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and India.

In addition, Kobe Steel is the only comprehensive compressor manufacturer in the world that can supply large-size screw, reciprocating and centrifugal compressors. Kobe Steel has an estimated 50-percent share of the world market for these nonstandard compressors, or custom-engineered process compressors, which are used in petrochemical plants.