Thailand Plastic Pipeline Market Research: Opportunities and Challenges Amidst Growing Demand and Transformation

Huang Meng, the Director of the Thailand Liaison Office of the Chengdu Polymer Industry Promotion Association, as a practitioner deeply involved in the Southeast Asian polymer materials market, has outlined the core dynamics of the Thai PVC plastic pipe industry for 2024-2025 through research. Driven by the threefold demand of construction, infrastructure, and agricultural irrigation, the industry maintains stable growth, but simultaneously faces multiple challenges such as import competition, raw material price fluctuations, and environmental compliance. Overall, it presents a pattern of "growth with support, but profitability under pressure."

Market size: Regional importance becomes more prominent, growth momentum continues to be unleashed.

The Thai plastic pipe industry is a key segment of its $8 billion plastic industry (2023 data) and holds an important position in the Southeast Asian market. According to Wresearch, the market's annual growth rate is expected to gradually increase from 3.0% in 2025 to 8.4% in 2029, showing a steadily accelerating trend. From a regional perspective, the Southeast Asian plastic pipe market size reached $9.09 billion in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 14%. As one of the core markets in the region, Thailand's industry performance has a significant impact on the overall landscape of Southeast Asia.

Research has found that the current demand for plastic pipes in Thailand mainly comes from two core areas, both of which have clear policy support.

In the field of architecture and urbanization, water supply, sewage, and drainage systems are the core demand engines. Thailand's public construction investment is expected to exceed 800 billion baht by 2025 (a year-on-year increase of 3.1%), coupled with urban housing development and the expansion of industrial parks, providing a stable foundational demand for the pipeline market.

Water Resources and Irrigation Sector: The government's "2024-2026 Water Resource Plan" has clearly allocated 548.4 billion Thai Baht, aiming to cover 12 million rai of farmland with new irrigation channels. Due to the advantages of PVC and HDPE pipes, which are highly corrosion-resistant, suitable for Thailand's climate, and cost-effective, they have become the preferred materials in this field, with strong demand growth certainty.

Competition and Trade: Local Enterprises Dominate the Mid-Range, High Proportion of Imports from China.

The local competitive landscape: The concentration of the plastic pipe market in Thailand is moderate, with local companies dominating the mid-end segments. The competitive situation is "stable with strength". Leading companies include:

Thai Pipe Industry Co., Ltd.: Established in 1963, it is the largest PVC pipe manufacturer in Thailand, with a strong channel and brand foundation in the local market.

Thai-Asia PE Pipe Co., Ltd.: Focused on the production of HDPE pipes and also planning for regional exports, it is an important player in the Southeast Asian market.

Thailand Plastic Chemicals/SCG Chemicals Group (TPC/SCG Chemicals): A vertically integrated enterprise encompassing PVC resin production and pipe manufacturing, occupying a core position in the industry thanks to its supply chain advantages.

In addition, companies like Thai Gow Gai and Vinyltec perform outstandingly in niche markets, while TOTOKU specializes in pipe fittings production. Several factories in China, such as Liansu Pipe, Yonggao Pipe, Weixing Pipe, and Ainuo Pipe, have established production bases through cooperative methods, collectively forming a diversified local competitive ecosystem.

The characteristics of trade flow; data from 2023-2024 show that Thailand remains a net importer of plastic pipes, with a trade pattern characterized by "import dominance and a small export base."

In 2023, the export value was approximately 160 million USD, ranking 34th globally, with major destinations being ASEAN countries and the United States, and the export scale relatively limited; in the same period of 2024, the import value reached 315 million USD, ranking 29th globally, with China being the largest supplier, accounting for about 210 million USD, an increase of 23.5% year-on-year.

In terms of trends, as the demand for domestic infrastructure and irrigation projects in Thailand increases, the scale of imports continues to rise. Chinese products, benefiting from cost and capacity advantages, dominate the Thai import market, creating certain competitive pressure on local enterprises.

Policy and Cost: Compliance Reshapes the Industry, Profit Margins Squeezed

The Thai government is reshaping industry standards and promoting sustainable development through multiple policies: The "Plastic Waste Management Plan (2023-2027)" sets clear goals to achieve full recyclability of plastic materials and establish a circular economy system, requiring companies to comply with regulations throughout the entire process from production design, material selection to waste disposal.

In the field of drinking water pipelines, a mandatory "lead-free PVC" standard has been implemented, requiring compliance with Thai Industrial Standards (TIS) to ensure product safety. Government procurement and construction regulations have been further refined, mandating the use of certified pipes with UV resistance and pressure resistance standards, compelling enterprises to enhance product quality and technological levels.

The cost of raw materials is the core variable for industry profitability.

The price of PVC resin fluctuated significantly, and although there was a decline by the end of 2024, it continued to soften by mid-2025, increasing the difficulty for companies to control costs due to price uncertainty.

The price of HDPE is significantly affected by crude oil prices. Currently, due to market oversupply, the price remains at a moderate level, but in the long term, it will still fluctuate with the energy market.

The competition in the market is intense, and enterprises find it difficult to transfer cost pressures through price increases, leading to a continuous squeeze on profit margins. "Controlling costs and improving efficiency" has become a common demand in the industry.

Domestic Enterprises' Breakthrough Strategy: Phased Approach, Strong Adaptation, Emphasis on Collaboration

Initial phase: Enter the market with compliant products, binding large projects, and prioritizing infrastructure and irrigation projects for Thai government tenders. Provide PVC/HDPE pipes that meet TIS lead-free standards and possess UV certification. Leverage domestic production capacity to ensure delivery timelines and establish market trust through “product compliance + stable supply.” Collaborate with domestic and international trade platforms or local Thai agents (such as ASEAN companies focused on building materials trade) to quickly obtain project information and reduce market development costs.

Mid-term: Promote localized cooperation, extend the industrial chain, and engage in "technology + capacity" collaboration with local Thai enterprises: on one hand, provide pipes to local fitting manufacturers (such as TOTOKU) to form a "pipes + fittings" supporting supply, enhancing the stickiness of project cooperation; on the other hand, negotiate raw material procurement cooperation with resin producers like SCG Chemicals to reduce exchange rate fluctuations and transportation costs associated with PVC resin imports, optimizing supply chain stability.

Long-term: Establish localized production and create regional centers. If market share reaches a certain scale, we can set up factories in industrial areas such as the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) in Thailand, taking advantage of local tax incentives (such as export tax rebates) and the benefits of being close to the market to reduce logistics costs and tariff expenditures. At the same time, we will build a localized service team based on the factory to provide installation training and after-sales maintenance, upgrading from a "product supplier" to a "solution service provider," ultimately expanding into the entire Southeast Asian market.

Opportunities outweigh challenges, and precise planning is key.

For domestic plastic pipe companies, the Thai market is not a "land of plenty," nor is it a "risk zone." Its core value lies in the strong demand growth that can absorb some of the excess production capacity from China, and the environmental transformation that can highlight domestic technological advantages. Furthermore, the mature trade foundation between China and Thailand reduces the initial entry difficulty. It is recommended that domestic enterprises avoid "blind price competition," focus on compliant products, localized services, and industrial chain collaboration, and develop the Thai market as a "bridgehead" for expanding into Southeast Asia, thereby achieving long-term profit growth.