Bintulu’s Kidurong area sees increasing demand in industrial projects from SCORE

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KUCHING: Sarawak’s industrial sector has seen increase in demand for Bintulu’s Kidurong area, mainly due to this area being the gateway of Samalaju Industrial Park, one of Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy’s (SCORE) development areas in the northern region of Sarawak.

According to CH William Talhar Wong & Yeo Sdn Bhd (WTWY) in its recent Sarawak Property Bulletin, the demand of industrial building has increased in the Kidurong area with a recent on-going project in this area in the form of Kidurong Gateway.

This projects consists of 54 units of double storey semi-detached industrial buildings and 60 units of three-storey shophouses.

WTWY further noted in its report that other projects such as Kidurong Commercial Centre consists of double-storey industrial building semi-detached 34 units and double-storey detached nine units while Taman Saberkas have 24 units of double-storey semi-detached industrial building under construction.

WTWY furhter noted that this Kidurong area will become a Heavy Industrial Centre with a variety of industries such as oil and gas, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and palm oil setting up businesses in the area.

“Large-scale projects such as Samalaju Industrial Park, a heavy industrial park under the SCORE development plan, will have a positive impact on the property sector in this region,” it added.

Miri has also seen much demand in the industry sector, with WTWY noting that industrial transactions and prices were on the upside due to the limited supply of industrial units.

In contrast, Kuching saw lesser activity in the industrial sector, with WTWY noting that at present, there are only around 1,500 industrial units here.

However, it pointed out that this already makes up close to 35 per cent of the Sarawak total.

“There were no new industrial projects completed for 2013 with projects launched previously still under construction with The Sarawak Factory Wholesale Centre at Jalan Bako expected to be completed by 2014, contributing the largest share at 225 units,” it remarked.

WTWY further highlighted that there was only one industrial project launched for the year, namely, Modern Light Industrial Estate at Jalan Stakan Melayu at the Muara Tuang area.

The industrial estate is offering 70 units of double storey semi-detached units and four industrial detached lots for sale with prices ranging from RM635,000 to RM1,258,000 per unit depending on the land size for the semi-detached and RM1.66 million to RM1.9 million for the detached lots. However, WTWY pointed out that this project has yet to start.

“Price of industrial lots in Kuching remain at around RM50 per square foot (psf) and semi-detached at around RM250 psf, for a 15 to 20 points (pts) lot,” it observed.

With no major industrial transactions for 2013, WTWY stated in the report that rent yields for industrial unit remains unchanged at between five and six per cent per annum.

“No significant events are expected for the industrial sector for the next year 2014. However, with SCORE getting underway in the central region, more related industries are expected to be mooted in the medium and long term in Kuching, as a result of spin-off effects of downstream activities,” it reiterated.

Sibu also saw no major industrial project launched during the year with WTWY noting that the industrial property market was active only in certain established areas.

“Most newly launched industrial properties take longer time to sell. Sub-sale of industrial property market is preferable. Rentals for industrial warehouse remain at the same levels as that prevailing in previous years,” it observed.