Chaichalerm Bunyanuwat, president of the EAF Long Product Steel Producers Association, said that the expected demand for steel in Thailand was around 16 million tons this year, similar to last year.

Thailand’s domestic steel market demand was expected to remain weak this year and face the dumping of low-priced steel products from other countries.

The stagnation in the Thai steel market was mainly due to the slow progress of the government’s infrastructure construction projects, weak consumer purchasing power, and high household debt. There haven’t been positive factors that can increase steel demand so far this year.

Chaichalerm called on the newly formed Thai government to propose relevant measures to prevent the dumping of cheap foreign steel into the Thai market, especially after the trial operation of EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in October this year, which might result in the potential flood of steel products from neighboring countries such as China and Vietnam.