{"id":5657,"date":"2026-05-18T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brokerth.com\/?p=5657"},"modified":"2026-05-18T15:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T08:30:00","slug":"set-1539-petrochemical-renewable-picks-may-2026-en","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brokerth.com\/en\/set-1539-petrochemical-renewable-picks-may-2026-en\/","title":{"rendered":"SET at 1,539 \u2014 Petrochemical and Renewable Sector Picks for May 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The SET closed at 1,539.12 on May 14, up 1.44% on the session and roughly 27% above the same week last year. SET 50 dipped to 994 on May 15, giving back some of the rally. The setup right now is unusual: solid 1Q26 corporate earnings, foreign fund inflows from the US-China summit news, but a Bank of Thailand warning that Middle East fallout could drag GDP growth to 1.5%. For Thai investors, the question isn&#8217;t bullish or bearish \u2014 it&#8217;s which sectors are positioned right.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_83 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/brokerth.com\/en\/set-1539-petrochemical-renewable-picks-may-2026-en\/#Where_1Q26_earnings_actually_surprised\" >Where 1Q26 earnings actually surprised<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/brokerth.com\/en\/set-1539-petrochemical-renewable-picks-may-2026-en\/#Why_petrochemical_now\" >Why petrochemical now<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/brokerth.com\/en\/set-1539-petrochemical-renewable-picks-may-2026-en\/#Renewables_%E2%80%94_the_policy_tailwind_nobodys_talking_about\" >Renewables \u2014 the policy tailwind nobody's talking about<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/brokerth.com\/en\/set-1539-petrochemical-renewable-picks-may-2026-en\/#Industrial_estates_%E2%80%94_China_relocation_play\" >Industrial estates \u2014 China relocation play<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/brokerth.com\/en\/set-1539-petrochemical-renewable-picks-may-2026-en\/#What_a_Thai_investor_portfolio_could_look_like_right_now\" >What a Thai investor portfolio could look like right now<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/brokerth.com\/en\/set-1539-petrochemical-renewable-picks-may-2026-en\/#Bottom_line\" >Bottom line<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_1Q26_earnings_actually_surprised\"><\/span>Where 1Q26 earnings actually surprised<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Petrochemical names led the upside surprise this quarter. SCC, PTTGC, and IVL all reported margin expansion as feedstock costs eased and downstream demand from China recovered post-summit. Kingsford Securities flagged these three as their top accumulation picks, alongside industrial estate plays AMATA and WHA, infrastructure names CK and STECON, and renewable plays GUNKUL and TSE.<\/p>\n<p>The earnings beat wasn&#8217;t uniform. Bank and consumer staples came in mixed \u2014 credit quality is fine but loan growth stays muted with BOT at 1% and corporate demand soft.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_petrochemical_now\"><\/span>Why petrochemical now<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The thesis here has three legs:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Margin recovery from a weak 2024-25 trough. Spread between naphtha and downstream products widened roughly 8-12% YoY<\/li>\n<li>China demand. The Nvidia chip export relaxation and broader US-China detente lifts Chinese industrial sentiment, which flows back into petchem feedstock demand<\/li>\n<li>Valuation. SCC trades at roughly 14x forward P\/E, PTTGC closer to 11x \u2014 both below their 5-year averages<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The risk is the same one that powered the rally \u2014 oil price. If Middle East tensions push Brent above USD 95-100 sustained, feedstock costs rise faster than downstream prices can pass through, compressing margins again. The trade works in a USD 80-90 Brent range, gets harder above.<\/p>\n<h2>Renewables \u2014 the policy tailwind nobody&#8217;s talking about<\/h2>\n<p>GUNKUL and TSE are leveraged to Thailand&#8217;s PDP 2024 power development plan revision, which raised the renewable target share for 2030. Both are showing 1Q26 capacity adds on schedule. GUNKUL trades around 12x forward earnings; TSE closer to 15x. The catalysts are clear \u2014 new PPA awards over the next two quarters and any tariff revision on rooftop solar feed-in.<\/p>\n<p>The downside: rate-sensitive names suffer if BOT pivots back to cutting and bond yields fall further. Counterintuitively, that&#8217;s good for renewables given their capital intensity. So this position is actually a partial dovish-BOT hedge.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Industrial_estates_%E2%80%94_China_relocation_play\"><\/span>Industrial estates \u2014 China relocation play<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>AMATA and WHA have been bid on the assumption that China + 1 supply chain relocation continues to favor Thailand for auto, electronics, and EV component manufacturing. 1Q26 leasing data supports this \u2014 both names showed roughly 15-20% YoY uptick in land sales. The tactical issue is execution: leasing now feeds revenue 12-18 months out, so price-multiple compression can happen even with strong demand.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_a_Thai_investor_portfolio_could_look_like_right_now\"><\/span>What a Thai investor portfolio could look like right now<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>For a baht-denominated portfolio with a 6-12 month horizon, a reasonable structure given the news flow:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>40% SET 50 broad exposure via ETF (TDEX or similar) \u2014 cheap, liquid base<\/li>\n<li>20-25% petrochemical (SCC, PTTGC, IVL split) \u2014 earnings catalyst<\/li>\n<li>15% renewables (GUNKUL, TSE) \u2014 policy tailwind + rate hedge<\/li>\n<li>10% industrial estate (WHA primarily) \u2014 relocation play with measured upside<\/li>\n<li>10-15% cash, ready to add on a Middle-East-driven pullback to 1,470-1,490 zone<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Bottom_line\"><\/span>Bottom line<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>1,539 isn&#8217;t a &#8220;back up the truck&#8221; level, but it&#8217;s a reasonable mid-range entry for a thesis-driven portfolio. The earnings story is real, the foreign-flow tailwind is there, and the macro risk is identifiable \u2014 Middle East and oil. Watch Brent and the next MPC release; those are the two prints that will move the index 3-5% either way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SET hit 1,539 with strong Q1 earnings in petrochemicals and renewables. Sector-by-sector breakdown for Thai investors May 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-5657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-investing"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SET 1,539 \u2014 Petrochemical and Renewable Sector Plays May 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SET hit 1,539 with strong Q1 earnings in petrochemicals and renewables. 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