Posted on 23 Nov 2023
Overall long steel demand in ASEAN-6 picked up 2.4% y-o-y to 36.7 million tonnes in 2022. However, the level was still lower than the pre-pandemic level. Production remained stable with an increase of 1% y-o-y to 34 million tonnes. Import rose 3.4% y-o-y to 10.7 million tonnes and export dropped by 200k tonnes to 8 million tonnes in the same period.
Indonesia’s long steel demand grew slightly, at 2.2% y-o-y to 7.4 million tonnes in 2022. Production increased only 0.5% y-o-y to 6.6 million tonnes while import surged by a million tonnes to 1.6 million tonnes. Export declined moderately to 856,635 tonnes in the same period.
Among the six ASEAN countries, Malaysia’s long steel demand registered the highest growth rate of 21% y-o-y from 3.3 million tonnes to 4 million tonnes in 2022. Long steel production expanded significantly, by 11.5% to 6 million tonnes. More than half of the production was to serve export market. Export remained significant since 2020. However, the volume dropped around 100,000 tonnes to 3.5 million tonnes in 2022. Import declined slightly, at 1% y-o-y to remain at 1.5 million tonnes.
Philippines’ long steel demand continued to increase after the pandemic. The volume surged 2% y-o-y to 6.3 million tonnes in 2022. Domestic supply contacted slightly, at 0.7% y-o-y to remain at 4.1 million tonnes. Import rose 6.8% to 2.2 million tonnes to serve growing demand. The growth of long steel demand, although continued to increase, is not as high as expected. This could be because the expansion of infrastructure is not fast enough, as a result of rising inflationary pressures and slower-than-expect of construction sector.
Singapore’s long steel demand continued to increase significantly, at 7.4% y-o-y to 1.9 million tonnes, after a big jump of long steel demand in 2021. However, the demand was mostly supplied by imports, which continued to increase significantly, at 9% y-o-y to 3.2 million tonnes in 2022. Export expanded from 506,075 tonnes in 2021 to 588,547 tonnes in 2022.
Thailand is the only country in the region that experienced a decline in long steel demand in 2022. Total demand dropped 6.2% y-o-y to 5.9 million tonnes. This is because of the slowdown in construction activities in 2022 as well as the destocking activities. Production shrank 1.5% y-o-y to 4.6 million tonnes. Import dropped 5% y-o-y to 2.1 million tonnes or a decline around 100,000 tonnes. Export, on the other hand, increased 300,000 tonnes to 860,659 tonnes in 2022.
Vietnam’s long steel demand recovered from a slowdown in 2021 to register a slight increase of 1.4% y-o-y to 11.2 million tonnes in 2022. This could be a result from stronger construction industry in 2022, especially in the second half of 2022. Production shrank slightly, at 1.9% y-o-y to 12.1 million tonnes. Import remained stable with an increase of 0.9% y-o-y to 1.4 million tonnes. Export, on the other hand, dropped 14.2% y-o-y to 2.3 million tonnes in the same period.
See more details in 2023 SEAISI Statistical Yearbook.
Source:SEAISI
