719 factory closures in 2020 not so bad
published : 4 Feb 2021 at 04:33
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A total of 719 industrial factories went out of business last year, citing the economic impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak and causing 30,000 workers to lose their jobs, says the Department of Industrial Works.
On the flipside, as many as 3,324 factories were either created or expanded last year, which created as many as 187,088 jobs, said Prakob Vivitjinda, director-general of the department.
As the opening and expansion of these factories involved 325 billion baht in total investments, the combined investment value of those 719 factories which stopped operating last year was only 41.7 billion baht, he said.
FTI anticipates steel bump Hot-rolling steel rods being churned out at the Kobelco Millcon Steel factory in Rayong.
Domestic steel consumption is estimated to grow 5-8% this year, supported by the government s infrastructure investment projects, says the Iron and Steel Industry Club under the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).
The club expects the government will support local steel producers through the Made in Thailand policy and the local content scheme to help the industry.
Nava Chantanasurakon, chairman of the Steel Industry Club, said government construction projects in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), electric trains in Bangkok and other metropolitan areas as well as high-speed trains will benefit the steel industry.