High costs put off 3K expansion.

Byline: Yuthana Praiwan

Mar. 2--Skyrocketing costs of raw materials, coupled with ongoing political uncertainty, has prompted Thai Storage Battery Plc to delay business expansion despite increasing local demand.

Veerawat Korphaibool, managing director of the major manufacturer of 3K batteries for automobiles, said the high cost of lead -- the key raw material for battery production which accounts for 60 percent of total production costs -- and political uncertainty influencing consumer confidence have discouraged it to proceed with the expansion of its plant capacity.

The plant, however, is still running at full capacity of 300,000 batteries ...