The South East Asia Iron and Steel Institute (SEAISI) has stated that, despite the pandemic, the ASEAN region is expected to remain the focus for steel project investments. Economic developments in the region are expected to drive demand and there are still opportunities to cover demand and supply gaps for steel products. Government policies and incentives in the region will continue to attract potential investment into the steel industry, while the region’s less strict environment policy has allowed the flow of steel projects from China and the rest of the world.
According to SEAISI’s data, upcoming new integrated capacities and the latest updates in the region include construction of Hoa Phat Dung Quat 2 in Vietnam, which has a capacity of 5.6 million mt of hot rolled coils and is expected to start in early 2022. Substantial interest in expanding capacity is ongoing in Malaysia. Eastern Steel has plans to expand to 5 million mt in the future, from the current 700,000 mt, Alliance Steel is exploring the possibility of expanding to 10 million mt from the existing 3.5 million mt, WenAn Steel’s 10 million mt steel mill project is expected to be ready by 2024. In Indonesia, Dexin Steel has set sights on reaching 20 million mt steel capacity in the future from the current capacity of 3.5 million mt, with an ongoing expansion to reach 6 million mt in 2022.