According to a report released by the South East Asia Iron and Steel Institute (SEAISI), steel consumption in the ASEAN countries has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 10.7 percent between 2009 and 2012 and is expected to grow healthily in the next few years. ASEAN countries imported a total of 37 million mt of steel products in 2012, while the region's construction and ship building industries were responsible for approximately 80-90 percent of the total import volume.
The report said that ASEAN countries have the capability to substitute about 47 percent of the total imports without the need to invest into more advanced technologies. With the new steel capacity expansion plan in the region, by 2014 it is expected that the region's semi-finished steel capacity will be 51 million mt, its long product capacity will be 49 million mt and its hot rolled flat product capacity will be 43 million mt. However, according to the report, with the expected increase in production levels, the region's capacity utilization is still low.