Nowadays, people are increasingly paying attention to environmental issues, especially reducing greenhouse gas emissions to reduce global warming. One of the main causes of the greenhouse effect is the result of excessive amounts of carbon dioxide, and ' steel ' is an important material used in the production of various types of products. However, steel production emits carbon dioxide, accounting for 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions.  

Therefore, to enter the era of carbon neutrality and lead to efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the production process of environmentally friendly steel, “Green Steel” or low carbon steel, has begun.  

Which is believed to be another solution to this problem.  

Currently, major steel companies in Asia are starting to launch more ' Green Steel' and Thailand is starting to pay more attention. Therefore , it is a good opportunity for Thailand that foreign companies are starting to be interested in spreading and investing in environmentally friendly industries, such as 'Meranti Green Steel (Thailand) Co., Ltd. ' which aims to upgrade the steel industry in Thailand to become a low-carbon steel production that is environmentally friendly.    

Get to know Meranti Green Steel  

Mr. Sebastian Langendoff, CEO and founder of Meranti Green Steel (Thailand) Co., Ltd., gave an interview to Matichon that Meranti Green Steel was established to meet the urgent need to produce steel that is more environmentally friendly. The steel industry is one of the world's largest emitters of carbon dioxide or CO2 , accounting for approximately 7-8%.  

The aim of Meranti Green Steel is to promote the reduction of carbon dioxide ( CO2) emissions and make steel production more environmentally friendly. It also considers the reduction of nitrogen oxide ( NOx) emissions , which are often emissions that are immediately harmful to the environment. Therefore, Meranti Green Steel is one of the promoters of plants with the lowest NOx emissions among all steelmakers worldwide.

Mr. Sebastian said that Meranti Green Steel was originally a Singapore-based company, but it is planning to expand its low-carbon steel production base in Southeast Asia and aims to develop a low-carbon steel plant in Thailand to be the first low-carbon steel plant in Southeast Asia. We also operate in the Middle East and Western Australia , so we are actively involved in the supply chain project for low-carbon steel production in the Middle East as well as Western Australia. Although Singapore is our base and headquarters , we are looking at the Asia-Pacific market.  

Factors in deciding to choose Thailand 

There are 3 main factors that made Meranti Green Steel ( Thailand ) Co. , Ltd. decide to choose Thailand as the base for studying and developing a clean energy project to supply steel production plants, aiming to become a low-carbon steel plant in the Southeast Asian region.   

Mr. Sebastian said that the first factor is that Thailand has already considered the best infrastructure for low-carbon steel production in Southeast Asia. We believe that Thailand has the infrastructure in terms of ports, transportation and resources , and Thailand already has a steel industry, so it is a good base to start producing environmentally friendly steel. 

The second factor is that Thailand is a very interesting country because it has a very strong downstream steel industry, such as the automotive, home appliances and building construction industries . Thailand currently consumes 17 million tons of steel per year , with a very strong downstream steel industry that is looking to buy domestically. 

The third factor is that Thailand used to be the number one steel producer in Southeast Asia. 25 years ago, it was the largest steel producer in Southeast Asia. So we see a huge opportunity to promote import substitution, especially high-grade steel such as automobiles, home appliances, most of which are imported from Japan and Korea. So we want to make Thailand have continuous domestic high-grade steel production, and it has to be environmentally friendly.   

And with these 3 factors, Mr. Sebastian revealed that Meranti Green Steel would like to be a part of helping to elevate the Thai steel industry to another level and believes that the restoration is important and necessary because if the Thai steel industry is not restored, there is a risk even for downstream industries that will move their investment base to other countries. Therefore , we believe that Thailand needs a steel industry that is modern and very environmentally friendly.  

Key goal is to expand production throughout Southeast Asia 

Meranti Green Steel 's business concept not only helps businesses that use steel as a key raw material in manufacturing their products to remain competitive in a changing world of trade, but also supports the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2065 , which Thailand promised in 2021 at the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 26) , as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement to keep the global average temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius.  

Not only in Thailand, Meranti Green Steel also aims to expand its production throughout Southeast Asia. Meranti Green Steel 's factory is located in IRPC Public Company Limited 's Eco-Industrial Zone in the heart of Rayong Province, which is part of the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) development project. The Thai government aims to promote the area as a logistics hub for Southeast Asia and has plans to develop both land and sea infrastructure that will connect the region's trade. From the plan to improve the efficiency of rail freight transport, the development of Laem Chabang and Map Ta Phut ports , and the development of U-Tapao Airport, once the project is complete, it will be able to access the global market.

Mr. Sebastian revealed that Meranti Green Steel has a wide range of partners both in Thailand and abroad. In Thailand, there is cooperation with King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi and IRPC Technology College in Rayong. For foreign partners, Meranti Green Steel has partnership agreements with companies in Australia and 5 companies in Europe . Mr. Sebastian revealed that these companies will import steel produced by the company in Thailand from 2028-2029 onwards . In addition, Meranti Green Steel also exports hot rolled steel coils for downstream industries to companies in Vietnam. After the production process, the products will be exported to Europe. 

Mr. Sebastian stated that Meranti Green Steel aims to help Thailand become a 'global destination' for sustainable investment amidst a green and environmentally friendly ecosystem. He would like everyone to remember that there is a price to be paid for the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. The World Economic Forum estimates the damage from climate change to be worth 1.7 to 3.1 trillion US dollars, which is a huge cost for future generations. Southeast Asia is also experiencing floods and typhoons, and last year was the hottest year on record. The current level of greenhouse gases is 425 parts per million, an increase of 20% in just 30 years. Therefore , it is necessary to consider the long-term impact of this issue more. 

“We look forward to operating and building the first low-carbon steel plant together and in cooperation with Thailand, Southeast Asia, and the carbon tax in Thailand is coming into the trading system, which will have a huge economic opportunity, not only the cost, but also many opportunities for Thailand,” said Mr. Sebastian.

Check out the full article here: https://www.matichon.co.th/advertorial/news_5021522