Domestic steel bar producers are pushing the government to impose immediate measures to block imports of cheap rebar steel from China, says Industry Minister Chakramon Phasukvanich.
They also reiterated calls for the Industry Ministry to immediately stop the approval of certification for imported rebar steel.
Mr Chakramon said a group of representatives from local steel firms discussed the issue with him again recently.
"They need us to implement measures to block Chinese products entering the market before it is too late. They have seen how makers of flat-shape steel are trying to survive by petitioning the World Trade Organization, which takes a long time," said Mr Chakramon.
Cheap imported steel from China has affected Thai producers despite anti-dumping measures and safeguards under World Trade Organization rules.
Mr Chakramon acknowledged that the country needs to control imported steel products and the Thai Industrial Standards Institute (TISI) should reconsider its certification of imported steel.
The industry has agreed to accelerate the process of amending the rules, although this will take time.
About eight importers in Thailand are expecting to import low price steel from China soon.
The Chinese government subsidises steel producers, giving Chinese steelmakers an edge in price-cutting wars in other countries, especially countries that have low tax rates on steel products such as Thailand.
A source said that long steel is the only type of steel that has not been hit by cheap Chinese imports because only products with CE Marking are able to get TISI certification, and Chinese products fail to meet requirements.
Only steel products certified by the TISI can be sold here.
Since the TISI allows induction-made steel to get certification as well, local steelmakers feel threatened by the competition.
Apart from the low price of Chinese steel, Songsak Piyawannarat, vice-president for marketing and sales of TATA Steel (Thailand) Plc, said there is concern over the quality of Chinese imports.
"The cheap imported steel will attract local users, especially if they aren't concerned about the quality. We may see huge damage because this steel is mainly used for construction, which means that buildings could easily collapse," said Mr Songsak.
Thana Rungsillasingha, vice-chairman of the iron and steel industry club under the Federation of Thai Industries, said the government should stringently enforce regulations in order to ensure the quality of imported products.
Mr Thana agreed with local producers' requests for the TISI to immediately stop approving the certification of rebar steel imports.
Imports from China include boron steel that is used as an alloying element in making materials for construction steel as well as in auto parts.
Thailand exempts import duty on boron steel used in the automotive industry, but some importers have taken advantage of this exemption to import boron steel for construction purposes even though its quality is below the requirement for construction.
Thailand produces only 2.2 million tonnes of long steel per year on average, compared with a total capacity of 7 million tonnes per year, despite growing demand. The country's demand for long steel reached 3 million tonnes last year.
"Demand has grown in line with the construction sector, but we cannot increase production utilisation to optimum level because imported steel has gained a major share of the market," said Mr Songsak.