Fixtures & Appliances

Chinese Firm Opens Security Doors Factory in Nairobi

The factory has a capacity to manufacture 100,000 doors annually.

Updated on

February 22, 2013

Chinese firm, J&K Enterprises, has set up a factory in Nairobi to manufacture security doors in a bid to cash in on the growing local demand for the product.

The Sh250 million factory located in the Nairobi Industrial Area can manufacture 100,000 security doors annually.

“We can make 100,000 doors a year. We expect to deliver the first batch in a week,” said Li Shunkang, the firm’s managing director.

A security door will retail at Sh20,000 compared to the average Sh25,000 for imports.

Security doors prevent intrusion and are mostly made of steel or heavy wood. They have lock sets, latch and doorknob sets that fit in the rectangular pocket on the door’s side to form the lock. The spindle connects the parts on both sides of the door.

J&K Enterprises joins a growing list of Chinese firms setting up factories in Kenya. Earlier this month, the Hong Kong Building Centre opened a wall panel production factory along Mombasa Road.

The factory, with a capacity to produce one million square metres of walling a year, is targeting property developers keen on cutting costs by reducing construction time.

According to analysts, soaring labour costs in China are the main factor leading to a shift by Chinese firms to major export destinations such as Kenya to manufacture commodities that will sell locally at cheaper prices.