Building material suppliers to benefit from MRT Line 2, says AmResearch

by **Cals** Tue 18 Mar 2014, 14:32

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Ahmad Naqib Idris Adzman Shah of theedgemalaysia.com

Tuesday, 18 March 2014 10:26

KUALA LUMPUR (Mar 18): Building material suppliers are likely beneficiaries of the tender of contracts for the MRT Line 2, according to AmResearch.

In a note Tuesday, the research house said while it was a little premature to gauge the possible winners for the elevated portions, it sees building material suppliers such as Ann Joo Resources Bhd, Lion Industries Bhd and Lafarge Malayan Cement Bhd as beneficiaries of multi-year demand.

AmResearch also highlighted Kim Lun Bhd and Pintaras Jaya Bhd as possible beneficiaries of the project due to their strengths in manufacturing tunnel lining segments, segmental box girders and piling works.

The research house expects the contracts to be tendered out by 2H2015 after obtaining feedback from relevant stakeholders.

For the project delivery partner (PDP) contract, the research house believes that the MMC-Gamuda joint venture (JV) will be the front-runner for the project as it already has a track record for MRT Line 1.

It expects the contract to be awarded soon after the official endorsement of the second line.

“Similarly, we believe that the MMC-Gamuda JV is in the driver’s seat for the tunnelling portion.

“It has the advantage of redeploying its tunnel boring machines for MRT Line 2, once works on MRT Line 1 are completed,” said AmResearch.

The federal government has approved the second MRT line, according to Mass Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp), which will link Sungai Buloh with Putrajaya, stretching roughly 56km with a total of 35 stations.

AmResearch said that the cost for the second line is approximately RM24 billion, similar to the cost of the first line.

The research house believes that MRT Line 2 will be endorsed soon, to ensure no construction overlaps with MRT Line 1.