Thainox eyes 33% sales rise with new mill

Local cold-rolled stainless-steel manufacturer Thainox Stainless plans to boost sales 33 per cent to 200,000 tonnes this year after starting up its new plant in the third quarter.

Thainox completed the installation of its third cold-rolled mill at a cost of Bt1.2 billion. The new mill will expand annual production capacity 50 per cent to 300,000 tonnes.

"Our expansion will keep us competitive in the global market, which has total demand of 7.2 million tonnes per year. In addition, we'll be able to serve demand for stainless steel, which is growing at 5-6 per cent per annum," said chairman and CEO Prayudh Mahagitsiri.

Half of its production is sold domestically and the rest exported to more than 30 countries.

Deputy managing director Keerin Chutumstid said the company would boost its exports to 60 per cent of total production this year through the strong network of Arcelor Stainless International and South-Korea's Posco. Their destinations are Southeast Asia, the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea.

Despite increased production, he declined to disclose the company's revenue projection, since the stainless-steel price has fluctuated aggressively.

The price of nickel, which accounts for 70 per cent of raw materials, rose from US$14,000 (Bt447,000) per tonne to $50,000 in the middle of last year before falling to $26,000 at the end of the year.

"Since the beginning of this year, the price has been $26,000 to $30,000 a tonne, but we cannot predict the price in the second half," he said.

To reduce the effect of the high volatility of stainless-steel and nickel prices, the company has decreased its inventories to about three months, delivered products to customers sooner, outsourced cheaper-priced raw materials and adjusted selling prices to fall in line with production costs.