— selling rust-proof alternative to steel rods

ENCOURAGED by the massive construction boom in Guyana, US-based company, Basanite Amazon, which offers a construction alternative to steel rods, is looking to set up an office and eventually a factory, in Guyana.

The company is one among several overseas-based businesses that are on show at the International Building Expo at the National Stadium. The expo has so far attracted immense attention from the public, particularly home-builders and contractors.

Managing Partner for Basanite Amazon, Michael Dodds, shared that the company sees massive potential for its products, basanite rods, in Guyana’s market.

“Basanite Amazon has a huge opportunity in Guyana simply because of the amount of construction that’s just about to start and that’s going to develop as time goes by,” Dodds said, adding: “I think it can be a US-billion-dollar-plus industry in time to come. We see our business becoming a permanent home here in Guyana. From Guyana we plan to cover 32 countries across the Caribbean, all the islands and so on.”

He commended the Building Expo, noting that it is a great starting point for the company to begin sensitising the Guyanese populace about its product, prior to bringing an office to Guyana.

“It’s very good. It’s bringing a lot of the people and is helping us with the marketing to find out who has an interest. We are surprised at how many people in Guyana are interested,” Dodds said.

The concept for the product started development some five year ago, and according to Dodds, it is attracting massive attention as a replacement for steel rods.

The product, which takes the elongated shape common to steel rods, is made out of volcanic rock. It is attracting massive attention because it is rust proof. The product is also stronger and significantly lighter than steel.

Marketing Correspondent for Basanite Amazon, Jay Thompson, believes that basanite rods are good for Guyana in the construction of sea defences, since the salt water could corrode steel.

“People started picking up on it very fast because of the wonderful benefits that it offers,” said Thompson, explaining that “Steel still conducts heat, conducts electricity; this conducts nothing, it never corrodes and it’s rust proof. So with this we won’t have the problem of the collapsing as we have seen with some buildings. It can’t happen with this as the structure inside. It also has the same coefficient of expansion that is close to concrete. So they don’t have to make the expansion cracks in the concrete pores as they’re doing now. It’s going to take over the world in construction.”

Thompson shared that he was also surprised and impressed with the huge amounts of attention that the booth has been getting at the event, making the company all the more encouraged to quickly set up its offices.

“A lot of the people actually stop here that are not just collecting cards and flyers, but that are really potential interest people. Whether they are building their own house or into construction and major formations and manufacturing. This is a needed product for any place that’s in a state of construction,” said Thompson.

“We are here to stay, we’re going to be down here with an office in a couple of weeks; we’re going to be taking orders and we’re going to see if enough interest [exists] to begin making the product here and hiring people to build the product. Because the raw material is here too, it’s all over the world.”