The South East Asia Iron and Steel Institute (SEAISI) has shared the ASEAN-6 countries’ finished steel export and import data for the first quarter this year. Accordingly, finished steel exports in Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam registered significant growth rates despite the pandemic and the economic slowdown in 2020.
Indonesia’s hot rolled plate exports decreased by 42.2 percent to 128,386 mt in the first quarter this year, while the country’s plate exports rose to 47,824 mt in the given quarter. In the first quarter this year, the country’s stainless hot rolled coil exports amounted to 339,146 mt, with around half the volume shipped to Thailand, followed by exports to Vietnam, Myanmar and China. Apart from exports of finished steel products, Indonesia’s billet and slab exports increased significantly in the first quarter this year to 459,731 mt and 75,527 mt, respectively. Half of the billet exports were to China, followed by exports to Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines. Indonesia’s slab exports were mainly shipped to China, Thailand and South Korea.
Malaysia’s finished steel exports in the first quarter jumped significantly, led by exports of long products. The country’s bar exports increased to 691,796 mt in the first quarter, compared to 184,384 mt in the same period last year. In the first quarter, Malaysia’s wire rod exports decreased by 39 percent to 566,691 mt. The main market for Malaysia’s bar and wire rod exports was China. Meanwhile, the country’s exports of most flat steel products declined by double digits in the first quarter of 2021.
In the first quarter this year, Vietnam’s hot rolled coil exports dipped moderately by 10 percent year on year. Its major markets were Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Vietnam’s export of billets increased by 24 percent to almost 500,000 mt in the first quarter, half of which went to China, followed by exports to Thailand and Indonesia. Thailand and Philippines remained the main finished steel importers.
Thailand’s finished steel exports in the first quarter this year increased by six percent year on year. The country’s exports of hot rolled coil surged by 30 percent to one million mt in the given quarter, while its exports of cold rolled coil rose by 29 percent year on year to 500,000 mt.
The Philippines’s finished steel imports dropped significantly in the first quarter of 2021, except for its imports of bar which increased three-fold amid the resumption of construction activities in early 2021. The country’s imports of flat steel declined in the first quarter this year, except for imports of HDG which recorded a double-digit growth rate in the same period.
Singapore’s finished steel exports dropped by six percent to 1.5 million mt in the first quarter. The country’s exports of long steel fell by 22 percent to 597,090 mt, while its exports of flat steel increased by eight percent year on year to 908,938 mt.
Consequently, SEAISI stated that many steel producers in ASEAN countries benefited from strong demand in China and were able to capitalize on demand-supply gaps to export to China and the ASEAN region.