Posted on 11 Sep 2023
The Iron & Steel Institute of Thailand has called for the newly installed Thai government to bolster the local steel industry, Kallanish notes.
Domestic steel consumption and imports are among the issues that require more attention from the new government because they can help strengthen the Thai economy, said Somsak Leeswadtrakul, senior director of the institute and honorary chairman of Thai integrated steel mills, G and GJ Steel, according to reports in the Bangkok Post.
Thai steel production was only 3.3 million tonnes during the first quarter. This indicates a very low capacity utilisation rate for the Thai steel industry. Total steel production capacity in Thailand is 22m t/y and steel consumption totals 17mt, according to latest data.
He noted an influx of steel product imports amid a volatile global market, which is affected by the slowdown of the Chinese real estate sector. In the first quarter of this year, Thai steel imports reached 5.8mt. up 5.7% year-on-year. Compared with other Asean countries, Thailand has the highest ratio of steel imports at 63%, while the other regional countries averaged 22%, he notes. This constitutes a huge trade balance deficit, with imported steel products worth more than THB 200bn ($5.61bn) a year, said Somsak.
He also urged the new government to deter imports of alloy-added hot-rolled coil which circumvent existing anti-dumping and anti-circumvention duties for hot rolled coil imports. This would support local Thai steel producers to use technologies from Japan and South Korea to improve steel production. "We would like to see a sustainable steel industry in Thailand, which will prepare us for the new era of electric vehicles," he was quoted as saying.
Source:Kallanish
