Thailand's industry body seeks government help to tame rising HRC prices

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): The Metal Tube and Cold-Forming Steel Association has called for government intervention to arrest the price hike of hot rolled coil steel prices in the country.

According to the Association, the hot rolled coil prices have surged by nearly 20% ever since higher tariffs were imposed during last year. Consequently, the prices of steel pipes that are produced using hot rolled coils have also gone higher by nearly 8-9%. It fears that the hot rolled coil prices may zoom by at least 10% by year-end, unless the interim government takes strict measures to regulate the prices of the product.

The price hike in local hot rolled coil steel leads to increase in prices of local steel pipes and other products, which prompts the customer to shift to cheaper imported products. The price of imported finished steel in the country is cheaper by $20 per tonne when compared with the prices of local hot rolled coil steel.

The fact that local raw material prices are higher than the prices of imported finished products has forced one of the mills to relocate its manufacturing facility to Myanmar. If the interim government doesn’t come up with adequate measures to protect the domestic industry, many more mills may follow suit, the Association noted.