Bangkok Independent Newspaper reported that hot rolled steelmaker Sahaviriya Iron and Steel plans to build an upstream steel blast furnace in the very near future. The project will take three years to complete and when finished will have a production capacity of 7.5 million tonnes a year.

Mr Win Viriyaprapaikit president of Sahaviriya Iron and Steel said that "Once we receive an environmental impact assessment and win tax incentives from the Board of Investment, we will start our investment immediately. The longer we postpone our investment project, the less competitiveness we'll have in the future after Vietnam completes its largest steel blast furnace."

He said that the Thai government and public authorities should understand the need for the Kingdom to establish an upstream steel blast furnace to reduce steel imports, worth THB 400 billion a year, as well as to secure the raw materials used in making steel.

According to the report, SIS should take advantage of the fact that the top four steel companies have submitted letters of interest in setting up smelting plants in accordance with BoI criteria.

Mr Win Further said that these four companies cannot draft specific plans, because they still must wait to see the government's policy regarding the Southern Seaboard and BoI privileges. Hence, the sooner we operate our smelting plant, the more competitive we will be.
Earlier, SIS received BoI approval for the project, but the company failed to start it, because of financial problems and strong resistance from the local community. However, SIS has become the leader in a consortium with Sino International Heavy Industry Technology, the project's turnkey service provider. In addition, it is negotiating with Chinese commercial banks and the Export Import Bank of China for THB 50 billion worth of loans for its first phase, which will have a production capacity of 5 million tonnes a year.