From household plastics to India in 2007 to 80 countries: RFL puts Tk 200 crore into a new export plant

PRAN-RFL Group has a decade and a half of experience exporting plastic goods. It entered the sector in 2007 by sending household plastic products to India; its plastic goods now go to 80 countries, and it exported $40 million worth in FY2023-24. Having sold mainly to Europe, it now wants the US and wider North American market. Company officials reason that people there use plastic goods for a short time and buy new ones, and that rising costs in China plus the US-China trade war will shift orders to nearby countries. While many investors held back after the political change, the group is building a Tk 200 crore export-oriented plastics factory at the RFL Industrial Park in Kaliganj, Gazipur. It will make various household goods as well as toys and pet products. The building was complete, a machinery deal with plastic machinery maker Haitian Group was due to be signed, and production was targeted for April-May. Even before the plant opened, it had an order worth $6 million (Tk 73.2 crore) from a US buyer. The new plant can produce $42 million of goods a year and will employ 2,500 people. For comparison, Bangladesh's total plastic exports in FY2023-24 were $244.4 million.