Altech Chemicals' shares on the rise under Iggy Tan

Altech Chemicals closed at $0.10 on Friday last week, more than double the value they were trading at just two months ago.

Altech's focus is to transition into a leading producer of 99.99% (4N) High Purity Alumina (HPA) at a low cost. HPA is a high-value product because it is the major source material for scratch-resistant artificial sapphire glass. Sapphire glass is used to produce a range of high-performance electronic applications such as LEDs, semi-conductors, phosphor display screens, as well as new emerging products such as smartphones and tablet devices.

Around 70% of HPA demand is in the Asia Pacific region, and Altech’s HPA plant in Malaysia would be well-positioned to benefit. Altech wholly-owns a kaolin deposit at Meckering, Western Australia.

Assisting in the re-rating has been support from Royal Highness Prince Ya’acob Bin Tunku Tan Sri Abdullah, the executive chairman of Malaysian cornerstone investor Melewar IIC Limited. Melewar recently placed $1 million at $0.059 into Altech, moving it to a 12.9% stake.

Prince Ya’acob Bin Tunku Tan Sri Abdullah recently said that Altech has the potential to be one of the worlds' leading producers of high purity alumina at a low cost, and put his support behind Atech's managing director, Iggy Tan, as one of the key drivers in the addtional investment.

"The rapid growth in demand for sapphire based products from LED lighting manufacturers, and the electronics and smart phone sectors is compelling. Altech management team, led by Mr Iggy Tan with his proven track record of developing these type of projects, was another key consideration,” Sri Abdullah opined.