Manufacturing costs are estimated to increase by 10-20% in the next 3-6 months mainly because of higher energy prices, according to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).
The estimate is based on the latest survey conducted by the FTI among 160 executives amid the global oil price surge.
Most respondents ranked high energy prices first on a list of factors increasing their operating costs, followed by the lack of shipping containers, foreign exchange rate fluctuations and a shortage of some raw materials.
Almost 66% of the respondents believed costs would increase by 10-20% in the next 3-6 months, according to the findings.
Some 17.5% believed the costs could soar by more than 30%, while 16.3% did not expect a change in operating costs.
Only 0.6% told the pollster they expect costs to decrease by 10-20% in the near future.
Most FTI executives called on the government to deal with the impact of higher operating costs by putting a cap on energy prices and fixing the fuel tariff, said Wirat Uanarumit, vice-chairman of the FTI.
Such measures are needed as the domestic economy has not fully recovered from the impact of lockdown measures, implemented earlier to contain the spread of Covid-19, said the executives.
They also agreed factory owners should adjust their operations to cope with the situation.
The most popular suggestions were increased use of technology to raise production efficiency (75.6%), followed by energy-saving techniques (65.6%) and slimming manufacturing programmes to reduce costs (60%).