Indian steelmaker Tata Steel expects consumption of its steel products in Thailand to grow by 8pc in FY2021 (April 2020-March 2021) to 1.30mn mt compared to prior year, as the country has dialed-up its infrastructural activities on the back of active funding from the Thai government, local media reported.
Chief executive of Tata Steel Thailand (TSTH), Rajiv Mangal, said Thailand has immense market potential for high quality steel products. The company has pegged this estimate on the basis of the Q3 (Oct-Dec) results.
Disruptions related to COVID-19 caused the steel consumption to fall by 13pc to 9.6mn mt in Jan-July period of 2020 while iron and steel output declined by 12.pc to 4mn mt compared to prior-year period, according to the Iron and Steel Intelligence Unit under the Industry Ministry.
Sales and Revenue in April-Dec 2020
TSTH, a business unit of Tata Steel, registered an increase in sales volume by 6.35pc to 937,000 tonnes in the April-December 2020 period, compared to same period in 2019, according to local media reports.
TSTH’s revenue dipped marginally by 0.6pc in the April-December period to THB14.89bn, but profit before tax increased to THB271mn, compared with the same period in FY2020, when it recorded a loss of THB21mn.
In Q3 (October-December 2020), the company’s sales increased by 14.68pc to 328,000mt while revenue surged by 10.80pc THB5.41bn and profit before tax increased by 61.87pc to THB53bn.
EEC projects
After supplying 16,000mt of steel for the first phase development of the Thai-Chinese high-speed train project, the company is eyeing a deal for the second phase as well.
TSTH is also in talks to to supply steel products for a high-speed train project that will connect three domestic airports under the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). The company expects infrastructure projects to boost steel consumption in Thailand, and estimates a growth of 18-18.5 mn mt in 2021.
($1= THB 29.9)