Speaking at the SteelOrbis 2019 Fall Conference & 81st IREPAS Meeting held in Düsseldorf on September 22-24, Yeoh Wee Jin, secretary general designate of the South East Asia Iron and Steel Institute (SEAISI), said that the ASEAN region is among the fastest growing regions in the world, with ASEAN countries excluding Singapore expecting positive growth in the near future.
Mr. Yeoh said that ASEAN’s steel consumption amounted to 80 million mt in 2018, with half of consumption supplied by imports. While Vietnam is the biggest steel consumer in the ASEAN region, Indonesia and the Philippines posted the highest growth in 2018. During the same period, steel production in the region went up by 15.3 percent, while exports saw a significant increase of 33.1 percent, both year on year. The SEASI official said that finished steel import sslowed down in 2018 mainly due to the increase in domestic production to serve domestic demand and to substitute imports.
According to the SEASI figures, the ASEAN region imported a total of 13.2 million mt of long steel in 2018, with the construction industry accounting for more than 80 percent of total imports and wire rod imports accounting for 36 percent of total long steel imports.
Total steel demand in the ASEAN region is expected to exceed 83 million mt in 2019, while the steel demand growth potential for the region is estimated at 4-5 percent for the next few years. Mr. Yeoh noted that, regarding long products, the steel industry is at overcapacity, adding that local capacity in the ASEAN region is more than sufficient to meet consumption. He warned that future investment opportunities in emerging economies in the ASEAN region should aim at self-sufficiency and not export markets.