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Stainless-steel manufacturer Thai-German Products will have to wait before it can welcome new partners, due to the political uncertainty and global financial crisis.

A company source said the discussions scheduled for this past October had been frozen as most of the potential partners - all financial firms - needed to review their investment policies in the light of the global crisis.

Thai-German earlier expected to conclude deals by the end of the year in order to prepare itself for production expansion next year.

The source said the company's performance would not, however, be affected by the negotiations stretching over to next year because the economic environment is not suitable for business expansion.

"As far as I'm concerned, 70 per cent of private firms have delayed their business expansion. Our business is not therefore [unduly] damaged by the economic downturn," the source said.

The source acknowledged that while orders had shrunk due to Thai industries being hit by the global economic malaise, the company still had no plans to cut production. It is currently running at one-third of capacity.

Thai-German produces 15,000 tonnes of stainless-steel pipe and stainless-steel sheet per year.

Seventy per cent of its products are sold through wholesalers, with the remainder going to end-users.

The source said wholesalers had reduced their orders due to lower demand. Besides, they have to diversify risk by not overstocking.

Thai-German targets tapping ethanol plants and other industries, including foods, petrochemicals and paper.

Despite the downturn, it still has orders from these clients.

However, the orders are lower than its previous estimate.

"Orders dropped significantly in October and November but have rebounded this month. I expect orders to recover in the second half of next year," the source said.