Long Steel Demand in ASEAN Countries Recovered in 2021

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest market report published by the South East Asia Iron and Steel Institute (SEAISI) suggests marginal recovery in long steel demand in six ASEAN countries in 2021, though the levels stood much lower when compared with the pre-pandemic demand levels.

The demand rose marginally by 1% year-on-year to 35.1 million tonnes during the previous year.

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The long steel demand in Singapore registered significant surge by 42% over the previous year to 1.5 million tonnes in 2021, mainly triggered by recovery in construction sector activities. The domestic production by the country totalled nearly 600,000 tonnes. The imports were up by 18% year-on-year to 1.5 million tonnes, whereas the exports continued to decline to 500,000 tonnes in 2021.

The Philippines boosted its long steel demand to nearly 6 million tonnes. Thailand recorded slight growth in demand by 2.6% to 4.7 million tonnes.

Meantime, the long steel demand in the other three countries within ASEAN-6, namely Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam recorded negative growth in demand. The Indonesian long steel demand dropped slightly, at 1.4% y-o-y to 7.2 million tonnes in 2021. Malaysia recorded modest 1.2% dip in long steel demand in 2021. Vietnam too reported slight negative growth rate of 1.1% y-o-y to 11 million tonnes.