TEX reported that Siam Yamato Steel Co of Thailand has aggressively broken into the sheet piling market in Southeast, and its future trend is watched.

It's not that Siam Yamato had not appeared in the export market at all. It had almost bided for sheet piling projects in Hong Kong. However, its bids had been limited in Hong Kong in the past. While, recently, the company is said to have offered aggressively its prices for projects in Singapore, Philippines and Vietnam.

Usually as for sheet pilings for Southeast Asia, supply of them had been limited to Japan and Korea only. Into such market, the Thai mill has broken.

In the case that Hyundai Steel of Korea offered its price at about USD 850 CNF, Siam Yamato is said to have embarked on it at around USD 800 CNF. Even if eventually, Hyundai Steel receives an order due to quality and so on, its order prices will be largely affected by Siam Yamato's prices, and it will be requested to cut its prices. With this, prices of sheet pilings in the Southeast area will not be able to come close to a target price of USD 900 CNF at any cost.

Compared with the previous year, there will be many ODA projects by Japan in the latter half of this year, and on top of it, it is foreseen for construction of a railway network in China to be commenced. However, increase of one more supplier will influence prices and quantities in a subtle way. As Siam Yamato's offered quantity is said to be limited at present, its influence is not so big but attention is paid to see whether Siam Yamato increases its export quantity and how it moves.

Meantime, there are high interests in rehabilitation demand in Thailand after the massive floods but it is said that as concrete piles rather than sheet pilings are swayed to being used, demand on sheet pilings will not rapidly increase.

(Sourced from TEX Report Limited)