Industry Minister slams Xin Ke Yuan Steel over substandard steel
Industry Minister Akanat Promphan on Tuesday criticised Xin Ke Yuan Steel, stating that the company’s clarification regarding the substandard steel controversy was unconvincing.
Akanat spoke to the press following a press event held by the Chinese firm on Monday, which aimed to clarify that the collapse of the State Audit Office (SAO) building in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district in late March was unrelated to the quality of the steel it produced.
“For me, listening to it was a waste of time. It has no bearing on ongoing administrative or legal proceedings,” he said, confirming that the Board of Investment (BOI) had already revoked the company’s investment privileges.
He added that the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) is pursuing legal action against Xin Ke Yuan Steel, as it found the company had not complied with the Industrial Product Standards Act and the Factories Act.
Moreover, the Department of Industrial Works discovered hazardous red dust at the company’s factory in quantities exceeding the amount declared in the official system.
“If they cannot offer a proper explanation, it constitutes a violation under the Hazardous Substances Act, which carries severe penalties,” he said.
“This is not to mention issues related to taxes under the Revenue Department, commercial law violations, and false declarations. At present, the DSI is accelerating its investigation to compile evidence and proceed with prosecution.”
Akanat reiterated that Xin Ke Yuan Steel’s entire press briefing was baseless, even accusing the Iron and Steel Institute of Thailand (ISIT) of using substandard tools to inspect steel quality—a claim he described as extremely serious.
He said the ISIT director has confirmed that the tools meet standards and are fully capable of detecting boron levels. He believes the company may have been influenced by the opinion of a retired official from the Thai Industrial Standards Institute (TISI).
Akanat also said he is looking deeper into whether the TISI certification issued in 2018 was legitimate.
An inspection by the Industry Ministry revealed that the machinery setup did not comply with required standards. Even the ministry’s ‘Sud Soi’ inspection team was unable to identify any process in place for enhancing the quality of the steel.
He advised the lawyer who spoke on behalf of Xin Ke Yuan Steel to better question their client first.
Akanat said he was unbothered by the company’s claim that it had not directly supplied steel to the SAO building project. However, the Industry Ministry has already sought a court warrant to allow the Sud Soi team and DSI to carry out a thorough inspection of the case.
“We’ve collected all the key data and evidence—computers, documents and servers—and we expect to uncover several crucial pieces of evidence,” he said.
He also confirmed that the ministry had thoroughly reviewed every legal and procedural step. He emphasised that ISIT is the authoritative body when it comes to steel inspection.
