SCTL Imports Nippon Steel Rail for SRT Railway Project

Contributed by Mr Nattapong Manothai, SCTL Metal Division

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT), as the project owner, invited local contractors to participate in an E-Bidding held in May 2021 for its new railway project. The project, named “Track Doubling Project: Den Chai – Chiang Rai – Chiang Khong”, spanning 323 kilometers in northern Thailand, was divided into 3 sections for E-bidding due to its extensive length.

Our customer, CH. Karnchang (CK), partnered with Sinothai Engineering and Construction (ST) to form the CK-ST Joint Venture for the E-Bidding. They successfully won the bid for section 2 and 3, with a combined rail demand of approximately 52,000 MT. While CK led the price negotiation, the distribution arrangement is : Nippon Steel to SC Tokyo to CK to Project Owner (SRT).

Nippon Steel was very interested in securing this project, especially after losing the huge order in the South America market under Mitsui channel. However, we encountered some challenges because Nippon Steel could only offer 21,000 – 31,000 MT initially due to limited capacity and commitment to other projects. But CK really needed the full quantity. Following extensive negotiations, Nippon Steel finally agreed to provide the requested 52,000 MT. This helped to seal the deal, CK confirmed the order with us in April 2024. For the commission, SCTL will earn a 1% on the FOB price for 52,000 MT, amounting to around 340,000 USD from SC Tokyo.

Apart from this project, we are working with SC Tokyo and local customers for other 2 potential projects with the estimated timeline as follows.

SRT Track Doubling Project: Khon Kaen – Nong Khai section