The South East Asia Iron and Steel Institute (SEAISI) has announced that, according to preliminary data, apparent steel consumption in the ASEAN region reached 78 million mt in 2016, rising by 12.8 percent year on year, mainly due to strong consumption growth rates in all of the region’s countries except Singapore.
Vietnam's demand for steel is estimated to have increased by over 20 percent year on year to 22 million mt in 2016. Domestic output continued to expand significantly, rising by 20 percent year on year to eight million mt. In 2016, Vietnam’s imports are estimated to have increase by 3-4 million mt to reach 17 million mt. Exports also continued to increase, from 2.8 million mt in 2015 to 3.8 million mt in 2016.
In the given year, steel demand in Malaysia is expected to be close to 11 million mt and domestic production is expected to continue to slow down to below 4 million mt. Malaysia’s steel imports grew by more than one million mt to around 8.4 million mt in 2016, while steel exports declined by 26 percent year on year to one million mt.
Singapore is the only country in the region that experienced a decline in steel demand in 2016, mainly due to the decline in the construction sector in the country. The country’s apparent steel consumption is estimated to have contracted by almost 26 percent year on year to below 3 million mt in 2016. However, domestic production managed to register a moderate growth rate of approximately five percent compared to 2015, but the overall volume was still low when compared to the volume before 2012. The slowdown in steel demand impacted imports more, with the import volume declining by nearly one million mt.
According to the SEAISI, Thailand’s steel demand is expected to have increased by 15 percent year on year to 19 million mt in 2016. The country’s domestic steel output rose by 23 percent to nearly eight million mt compared to the previous year, while its steel imports increased by one million mt year on year to 12 million mt.
Meanwhile, in the given year, Indonesia’s demand for steel is estimated to have grown at around 10 percent year on year to over 12 million mt. In the same year, Indonesia’s domestic production is expected to grow by almost six percent compared to 2015 and its import volume is estimated to have reached seven million mt, while the export volume showed a sharp decline to below one million mt.