Thailand: construction steel prices likely to fall

Thailand: construction steel prices likely to fall
26 August 2008


The price of construction raw materials is expected to stabilise in the second half, with steel dropping nearly three per cent but cement rising 510 per cent.
 
Construction experts yesterday told a seminar entitled "PropertyMarket Trends in Hard Economic Times", held to celebrate this month’s fourth anniversary of the Real Estate Information Centre (REIC), that several economic factors, such as oil prices, inflation and consumers’ purchasing power, were expected to improve in the second half. Construction raw materials are expected to remain on a par with the same period last year.
 
Staporn Phettongkam, secretary general for corporate communications at Siam City Cement, said although domestic demand for cement in the first half had dropped 5.6 per cent year on year, the cement price was expected to rise 510 per cent in the second half. This is because higher production costs have made cement producers reduce their production capacity, which in turn will force cement producers to raise prices.
 
The Thai Cement Manufacturers Association estimates this year’s cement production will be 42.3Mt, down 7.84 per cent from 45.9Mt last year. Of that, 26.8Mt will be used in the domestic market, down from 27.7Mt last year. The rest will be exported.
 
Published under Cement News