Posted on 31 Oct 2023
ASEAN-6’s steel-making capacity was as high as 50 million tonnes in 2022. Capacity utilization was 63% in 2022. Steel industry in ASEAN-6 is basically using a scrap base technology. Scrap demand declined moderately, by 4.6% y-o-y to 39 million tonnes. Domestic supply estimated at 32.9 million tonnes, an increase of 3.8% y-o-y. Philippines used to be one of major sources of scrap supply in the region. However, due to an increase of steel production in the country, Philippines’s scrap export reduced significantly in the last 2 years.
Indonesia’s demand for scrap remained significant, with an increase of 2% y-o-y to 16.7 million tonnes. Domestic scrap supply surged 4% y-o-y to 15.5 million tonnes. Import dropped nearly 300k to 1.2 million tonnes in 2022. Major sources of scrap import were Australia (31%), Hong Kong (27%) and Singapore (16%). Export was minimum at 42k tonnes, a decline of 25% y-o-y.
Malaysia’s scrap demand remained significant at 4.8 million tonnes since 2021. Domestic supply hiked 24% y-o-y to 4.4 million tonnes, an increase of nearly a million tonnes in 2022. Import dropped by a million tonnes to 503k tonnes in 2022. USA was the highest source of scrap for Malaysia. However, the volume dropped by nearly half a million tonnes to as low as 57k tonnes in 2022. Major sources of scrap import for Malaysia were Australia (21%), Singapore (18%) and Japan (16%).
Philippines used to be a major source of scrap in ASEAN-6 and other countries, with average export volume at half a million tonnes every year. However, since 2021, Philippines’ export of scrap dropped significantly to 84k tonnes in 2021 and the volume increased to 100k tonnes in 2022. Domestic scrap was kept to serve domestic steel-making production at 1.8 million tonnes in 2022 (same with 2021 level). Import continued to increase at 209% y-o-y to 104k tonnes in 2022. Major sources were Japan (59%), USA (21%) and Hong Kong (16%). Export at 100k tonnes in 2022 were to Taiwan (34%), India (24%) and Thailand (20%).
Singapore’s scrap demand declined 3.6% y-o-y to 608k tonnes in 2022. Domestic supply reduced slightly, at 2.3% y-o-y to 1.17 million tonnes. Import rose 34% y-o-y to 160k tonnes in 2022. Half of the import was from Malaysia. Singapore is a net exporter for scrap and is a major source of scrap in the region. Total scrap export registered 721k tonnes, an increase of 5.3% y-o-y. Major destinations were Vietnam (31%), Indonesia (25%), India (20%) and Malaysia (13%).
Thailand’s scrap demand remained significant, although the volume declined 2.6% y-o-y to 5.8 million tonnes. Domestic supply reduced 4.3% y-o-y to 4.5 million tonnes. Import remained unchanged at 1.67 million tonnes in 2022. Thailand import scrap from many countries, including USA (12%), Japan (10%), Australia (9%), Myanmar (8) and Panama (7%).
Scrap demand in Vietnam dropped 18% y-o-y to 9.3 million tonnes in 2022. Domestic supply remained 5.4 million tonnes. Import dropped more than 3 million tonnes to 3.95 million tonnes. Major sources were Japan (33%), USA (22%), Hong Kong (11%) and Singapore (6%). Vietnam’s export of scrap dropped 29% y-o-y to 88k tonnes in 2022. 72% of the export was to India whereas export to other countries were in minimum volume.
Source:SEAISI
