The Nation reported that steel demand in Thailand will continue to rise during the rest of the year, in line with an increase in automotive and electronics production and a recovery in the construction industry.
Mr Wikrom Vajaragupta director of the Iron & Steel Institute of Thailand said that steel consumption in the first 6 months had dropped sharply as a result of the contraction in global demand. However, it has begun to recover over the past two months thanks to higher demand from steel reliant industries and increased speculative demand.
He said that prices were increasing because several steelmakers had closed their plants in the first half, resulting in tight supply when demand picked up.
However, Mr Wikrom said that domestic steel consumption would fall from 13 million tonnes in 2008 to 10 million tonnes in 2009.
He added that "Our exports this year plunged following low demand in the global market. We do not think our exports will be as high as the estimated 100,000 tonnes in 2008."
Nonetheless, he said there was a good opportunity for local steelmakers to expand their exports to the European Union, which recently announced anti dumping duties on Chinese steel. Turning to the progress on a planned upstream steel smelter, he said the institute had allocated THB 40 million from its next fiscal year budget to study appropriate locations for such a project.
He added that "We are looking at two locations. One is in the East and the other is in the South, on the Gulf of Thailand coast from Prachuap Khiri Khan to Pattani. If we invest on the Eastern Seaboard, we could face strong resistance from local communities, but would save on the cost of developing the infrastructure. But if we developed the project in Pattani, we would have to invest a large amount for basic infrastructure and the logistics costs of steel users would increase, but we would have more development opportunities such as bordering industrial estates."
He said that he institute has surveyed public opinion about the establishment of an upstream smelter. The survey of 1,096 respondents across all regions found that 77.9% would like the government to give more information in order to educate and create the right understanding for the public. About 49% of respondents knew nothing about the project, while 43.9% had heard of it but did not understand what a steel smelter is and only 5% knew and understood the project.
He added that "The survey reflected why this project is hard to achieve. When people have little knowledge, they will be more concerned about the impact on their lives and the environment. Hence, it is very important to educate them about the plan in order to make this project successful."