The Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon) newspaper quoted Soc Trang Sugar and Sugarcane Co director Trinh Minh Chau as saying his company's sugar sales in June had fallen five times against May's figure.

Wholesale prices at factories are currently 9,600-10,200 dong (Bt22.75 to Bt24.25) per kilogram, a drop of 500-600 dong. - The Nation.

prefabricated houses

Siam Steel in joint venture to build steel homes in Qatar

Siam Steel International Co Ltd has entered into a joint venture with Doha-based Steel House to manufacture prefabricated steel houses in Qatar.

The Gulf Times late last week quoted Steel House managing director Hussain al-Mussawi as saying prefabricated steel houses were cost-effective, fireproof, durable and of very high quality.

They can be used for both residential units and commercial complexes.

A Siam Steel International executive said his company had manufactured 50,000 prefabricated steel houses over the past seven years, supplying them to Japan, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia and Laos in close collaboration with the United Nations.

"These houses can withstand extreme weather conditions and can be used in a wide range of locations, such as holiday resorts, hospitals, residential complexes and worker accommodations.

"Every unit is guaranteed for a period of 15 years, and the company has been awarded ISO 9001 and 14001 certificates," he said.

Earlier, an exhibition of prefabricated steel houses was jointly opened at the Doha Golf Club by Qatari Chamber of Commerce and Industry board member Saeed Rashed al-Hajiri and Thai Ambassador Voravee Wirasamban. - The Nation.

mineral water

Kingdom is first export market for Malaysian manufacturer

Malaysian-based Swee Long Marketing Sdn Berhad will export mineral water to Thailand in its first venture abroad.

Managing director Gan Swee Siong was quoted by the Bernama News Agency as saying that after Thailand, the Lundang Industrial Zone-based company wanted to spread its wings further to take in other neighbouring countries.

"At present, we are focusing on the domestic market. If the results are encouraging, we will expand our operations to neighbouring countries," he said.

Swee Long Marketing, established in 2002, is the producer of Zoom filtered drinking water.

Gan said his company would be more active once it had established an international market, which would further improve the country's image. - The Nation.

oil exploration

Korean-Japanese firm to begin drilling in northern Thailand

South Korea's second-largest oil refiner, GS Caltex Corp, will join hands with a Japanese firm to explore for oil in northern Thailand.

The Yonhap News Agency reported early this week that GS Caltex had signed a contract to buy a 30-per-cent stake in Siam Moeco Ltd, a natural-resources

development unit of Mitsui Oil Exploration Co, established in 2004 to develop oil and natural gas in Thailand.

Under the contract, GS Caltex will explore two oil blocks near Sirikit, the largest onshore oilfield in Thailand.

GS Caltex and its Japanese partner plan to begin exploratory drilling by the end of the year and conduct explorations to 2010, in order to assess economic feasibility.

"We'll step up our efforts to tap resource-rich

regions in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East," GS Caltex CEO Hur Dong-soo said in a news release.

GS Caltex, which began developing foreign fields of oil and natural gas in 2003, currently owns a 15-per-cent stake in an oil block in Cambodia and a 4-per-cent stake in an offshore oilfield west of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.

GS Caltex is an affiliate of South Korean energy and retail conglomerate the GS Group, whose subsidiaries are engaged in a total of eight foreign oil-exploration projects.

South Korea is the world's fourth-largest oil importer. - The Nation.