Finished steel consumption in Thailand improved in April in the year-on-year comparison owing to better demand for longs, and for wire rod in particular. In the flat steel segment, consumption was lower than in the same month of 2019, but coated steel demand posted a sharp increase, according to sources citing the Iron and Steel Institute of Thailand.
Finished steel consumption in Thailand rose by 0.2 percent year on year to 1.5 million mt in April this year. Long steel demand totaled 597,101 mt in the given month, 11.2 percent above the same period last year. In April this year, flat steel consumption declined by 5.9 percent year on year to 908,336 mt. Nevertheless, among flat steel products, demand for HDG, GA and EG sheets indicated a 30.1 percent surge year on year to 317,197 mt.
Despite the recent gradual improvement in the market, in the first four months of the year total steel consumption was still down 0.9 percent year on year, but the pace of the fall declined from the three percent drop registered for the January-March quarter.
Steel imports to Thailand decreased by two percent year on year to 1.055 million mt in April this year, with both long and flat steel shipments declining, by 3.9 percent and 1.4 percent respectively. An improvement in finished steel imports was seen only in wire rod, where shipments gained by 19.2 percent year on year, and coated steel (shipments were 62.3 percent higher than a year earlier). Total imports of steel came to 3.73 million mt in the January-April period, down by five percent year on year.