Posted on 22 Apr 2021
Steel consumption in Southeast Asia, South Korea and Japan is expected to rebound from 2021, South East Asian Iron & Steel Institute (SEAISI) and JFE Steel representatives said at the Kallanish Asia Steel Markets 2021 conference on Wednesday.
The China Metallurgical Planning & Research Institute (MPI) meanwhile noted that China is facing up to a medium- and long-term decline in steel consumption.
Yeoh Wee Jin, secretary general of SEAISI, said steel consumption in the ASEAN-6 countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam – is estimated to have fallen 12.5% year-on-year to 70 million tonnes in 2020. It could reach 72-75mt this year, up 2.9-7% y-o-y.
Mike Fujisawa, in charge of Overseas Business Planning at JFE, meanwhile expected steel demand in ASEAN-5 countries to touch 71.3mt in 2021. Both Yeoh and Fujisawa concluded that demand in the region cannot reach pre-pandemic levels this year.
China is facing a slow decline in steel consumption in the medium and long term, said Li Xinchuang, president of MPI. By 2035, China will step into the late-industrial period, resulting in steel consumption decreasing as the country moves towards carbon neutrality. Continuing urbanisation will however slow this decline.
The low-carbon concept will shape the pattern of high-quality development of the steel industry in China, Li added. Digitalisation, technological revolution and green collaboration are the three trends that this implies. Li noted that financial factors, tax preferences, the carbon trading market system, international cooperation and comprehensive standards will all encourage more low-carbon development in the industry.
In terms of imports and exports, countries saw different trends over last year. The ASEAN-6 exported 19.1mt in 2020, up 23% on-year, but their imports declined by 18.2% to 41.9mt. On the contrary, China’s steel imports increased by 64.4% y-o-y to 20.233mt, but its exports were 53.671mt, down 16.5%.
Source:Kallanish
