Bangkok Post reported that TATA Steel, Thailand's largest maker of long steel, is upbeat about bouncing back to profitability in its fiscal 2014 started April 1st.

Mr Peeyush Gupta presidentand CEO of TATA Steel Thailand said that through fiscal 2013 ended March 31st, TATA was singularly focused on turning itself around, and its fiscal Q4 showed its first profit before taxes in 8 quarters.

Mr Gupta said that for fiscal 2013 Q4, profit before taxes was THB 62 million, reflecting signaling a successful turnaround despite growing pressure from imports and volatile prices.

For the full fiscal year, sales revenue was THB 25 billion, down by 5% largely on the back of a drop in global steel prices and severe pressure on wire rods stemming from large imports of lower-priced Chinese steel.

But in terms of volume, sales rose by 3% to 1.18 million tonnes from fiscal 2012. It posted a net loss for the full fiscal year of THB 4.55 billion compared with 1.58 billion for 2102.

Information from the Stock Exchange of Thailand said that TATA posted consecutive net losses for its last 4 fiscal years, THB 54.4 million in 2010, 976 million in 2011, 1.58 billion in 2012 and 4.55 billion in 2013.

Mr Gupta added that TATA will boost both its production capacity and sales volume by 10% in the new fiscal year. Its annual steel production stood at 1.17 million tonnes in fiscal 2013.

He said that "The company expects steel consumption to increase by 5% to 17.4 million tonnes in 2013 from 16.6 million tonnes last year, driven by the government's planned THB 2 trillion infrastructure investment."

He expects the Commerce Ministry to announce anti-dumping measures on alloy wire rods in June or July.

TATA submitted a request to the government last November asking it to impose temporary safeguards by raising import tariffs by 15.9% on steel wire rods from China.

The company said that it is struggling to compete with subsidized imports that are up to 15% cheaper in the local market.

It added that Chinese firms can sell steel wire at below Thai market prices, as Beijing subsidizes the product with an export tax rebate of 9%.