GMA Garnet Group , the industrial garnet business unit of diversified industrial conglomerate Jebsen & Jessen Group and the world’s largest and only fully integrated garnet company, is marking its first anniversary of the launch of its Malaysian distribution hub in Port Klang. Serving GMA’s APAC market, since opening in June 2024, the Port Klang facility has rapidly scaled to handle 71% of GMA’s Asia garnet trade and is now a strategic gateway that accelerates growth and expands access to high-demand industrial markets.

As demand for high-quality industrial materials surges across key sectors like marine, oil & gas, infrastructure, and manufacturing, GMA’s Malaysian distribution hub will play a key role in supplying garnet to the APAC region and highlight Malaysia’s growing significance in global industrial trade. This expansion is well-timed to serve high-growth markets across North East Asia (NEA) and South East Asia (SEA), with the Asia Pacific (APAC) construction market expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.8% from 2025 to 2030, fueled by significant investments in transportation, energy, infrastructure and urban development.

Strategically located at the crossroads of key regional markets and leveraging Port Klang’s growing capabilities, GMA’s Malaysian distribution hub has delivered significantly faster lead times by up to 21 days, broader market coverage, and a substantial increase in regional delivery volumes to meet the region’s growing demand for high-performance abrasives.

To ensure the highest standards and high-quality garnet products, rigorous industry-leading quality control and assurance processes, as well as comprehensive training, are also implemented at the Malaysian distribution hub. This enhanced operational capability is further supported by recent safety enhancements at the facility, including the installation of guards around all conveyors and upgraded operational processes, ensuring a safer and more efficient production of high-performance abrasive solutions.

“Our Malaysian Hub in Port Klang has been a crucial part of GMA’s growth across APAC and serves as more than a transit point. It enhances our supply chain and service capabilities, and enables us to introduce abrasive innovations specifically tailored to APAC’s industrial challenges,” said Flynn Cowan, General Manager of International Sales & Marketing, GMA Garnet Group. “Looking ahead, we plan to enhance our Malaysian distribution hub further and continue growing our APAC footprint from Port Klang.”

Earlier in 2024, to meet the specific needs of the APAC market, GMA launched ToughBlast™, with the Malaysian distribution hub as the sole port for its latest product and its complementary range of engineered abrasive blends customised for the APAC region. A premium garnet abrasive engineered for extreme surface preparation environments, ToughBlast™ can be applied across industries such as oil & gas (onshore and offshore), shipyard maintenance and repair, water and wastewater treatment, and energy generation, amongst others.

Designed for longer blasting cycles and faster cleaning rates, ToughBlast™ has already demonstrated up to 30% higher productivity compared to conventional slag abrasives in key trial applications. The launch of ToughBlast™ is complemented by the rollout of a range of engineered abrasive blends tailored to the working conditions in APAC, including GMA NewSteel™, GMA SpeedBlast™, GMA PremiumBlast™, and GMA ExtremeBlast™. These solutions offer lower dust abrasive blasting, reduced abrasive consumption, and lower operational costs through improved blasting efficiency.

GMA has also announced two key leadership appointments to strengthen its position and support its growing APAC market needs. Shashi Kumar has been appointed as APAC Sales and Marketing Manager, bringing over two decades of global and regional experience to the role. His proven leadership, strategic insight, and market knowledge will be instrumental in strengthening customer relationships and expanding the company’s regional presence.

Complementing this, Chris Manger will transition into the newly created position of Head of Technical – APAC. Having previously served as the APAC Sales and Marketing Manager, Chris will now focus on providing technical leadership and support to the sales team while continuing to grow customer partnerships in the region and globally.

“The appointments of Shashi and Chris reflect the strength and depth of our leadership team and underscore our commitment to building a robust foundation to drive long-term growth and innovation in the region,” added Flynn.

With over 40 years of global experience and a legacy of supplying over 600,000 tonnes of garnet annually to more than 100 countries, GMA’s investment in Malaysia is a clear reflection of its long-term commitment to the industrial future of APAC, delivering solutions for customers who demand speed, reliability, and results.