Thailand’s current steel industry has no initial production or iron ore smelting, no blast furnace ironmaking equipment, only intermediate products or electric arc furnace (EAF) steel production. Therefore, the current Thai steel production is limited to semi-finished products produced in the middle and downstream. It is a net importer of steel, of which Japan imports the most steel, followed by China and South Korea. In 2017, it was the seventh largest steel importer in the world. In 2019, Thailand's HRC consumption was 670 tons, but Thailand's domestic production was only 260 mm, less than half of the consumption, so 400 mm was imported in 2019.
Thailand has been China's first choice for steel exports to Southeast Asia for a long time. Currently, although Vietnam has replaced Thailand as China's first choice for steel exports to Southeast Asia, the Thai market is still full of investment opportunities for Chinese steel companies. Although affected by the epidemic, the global economy including Thailand is relatively weak, and the construction, automobile, and machinery manufacturing markets directly related to steel are at a trough, the replacement epidemic gradually eases and the market will gradually recover.
