Tong Lung Metal Brings Online New Plant in the Philippines

Taipei, Nov. 27, 2008 (CENS)--The Taiwan-based Tong Lung Metal Industry Co., world's third-largest maker of door locksets, has officially started up its new plant in the Philippines, which has a full production line that is expected to significantly help push the firm into the lead by production volume in Southeast Asia, according to company sources.

Having cutting-edge R&D and production capacity have enabled Tong Lung to land a big order for high-end door locksets from Black & Decker, a global leading vendor of hardware and building materials under its own Kwikset, WEISER LOCK and BALDWIN brands.

Tony Ho, chairman of Tong Lung, stressed that the corporate investment of NT$1 billion to build the new plant will effectively fill Black & Decker's order, as well as generate an expected annual profits of NT$150 million, or NT$2 per share, achieved via hiring cheap manpower and low taxes in the Philippines.

The recent global economic downturn has been upending many businesses worldwide; however, Tong Lung, in light of the huge US$40 billion a year market potential for locksets, has stepped up resource integration with its partner Test Rite International, a leading distributor of household hardware in Taiwan, to achieve annual revenue of over NT$10 billion within 2 to 3 years, according to Ho.