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| Millennium Steel President Santi Charnkolrawee |
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Aptly named after its incorporation shortly following the turn of this century, Millennium Steel is a 3-year-old company making a name for itself in the global market. Once part of the Siam Cement Group, it is the largest long steel producer in Thailand and aims in the long term to be ‘‘the first choice of customers.’’
Company president Santi Charnkolrawee, who has been with Millennium Steel since Day One, knows how to achieve that goal. As its customers consider its commodity items (mainly used in construction) to be premium products, Charnkolrawee intends to focus on the other product category — specialty products for the automotive sector.
‘‘My target is to have an even split between commodity and specialty products within three years,’’ he says. ‘` We would like to be the pioneers of specialty steel. We are able to meet the high standards of the Japanese and supply the automotive industry here in Thailand.’’
Millennium Steel’s customer list includes the likes of Honda motorcycles and the company is looking to increase its export volume into neighboring countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia. Charnkolrawee is looking forward to competing with Taiwan and South Korea for global business.
‘We would like to be the pioneers of specialty steel. We are able to meet the high standards of the Japanese and supply the automotive industry here in Thailand’
Millennium Steel operates three factories in the provinces of Saraburi, Chonburi and Rayong, and Charnkolrawee is proud of the steady growth reached in a short time. ‘‘Last year, our sales were somewhere around 900,000 tons and that is increasing this year to over 1 million. Next year, we are
looking at 1.2 million tons,’’ he says. Meanwhile, what has been most important to Charnkolrawee is Millennium Steel’s contribution to the Thai steel industry. He explains that developing higher-grade steel will create a win-win situation for the company and the country as stronger materials will take Thailand and its structures well into the 22nd century.
www.millenniumsteel.com
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