The ASEAN steel industry as a whole registered a significant decline in output since the second half of 2008 till the first half of 2009 due to a sharp drop in steel demand. A recovery in steel demand in the region started in the second half of 2009 and the momentum is expected to b carried into 2010.
Apparent steel consumption in ASEAN in the second half of 2008 declined by 6 million tonnes as compared to the first half of 2008 to 20 million tonnes. The deceleration in demand maintained its momentum throughout the first half of 2009, which registered 16.3 million tonnes. Production in the second half of 2008 dropped by 32% QoQ to 10 million tonnes and picked up slightly in the first half of 2009. This is in line with the global capacity utilization of steel industry as reported by the World Steel Association. The global utilization ratio was slashed significantly in the second half of 2008 and the first half of 2009. However, a clear recovery was seen with a continuous increase of the monthly utilization rate from below 60% to 71.7% between January and August 2009.
Import of steel products in ASEAN continued to decline substantially from the second half of 2008 to the first half of 2009. Import registered 13.9 million tonnes in the second half of 2008, a drop of 16% from the first half of 2008 and continued to decline to 9.3 million tonnes in the first half of 2009. Export in the second half of 2008 dipped sharply from 5.3 million tonnes in the previous quarter to 4 million tonnes and further decreased to 3.7 million tonnes in the first half of 2009.
Table of apparent steel consumption in ASEAN
| | H1 '08 | H2 '08 | H1 '09 |
| Production | 14,777,362 | 10,020,730 | 10,580,475 |
| Import | 16,550,243 | 13,922,572 | 9,328,006 |
| Export | 5,341,711 | 3,977,163 | 3,656,112 |
| Consumption | 25,985,894 | 19,966,139 | 16,252,368 |
In tonnes
Indonesia's apparent steel consumption in the first half of 2009 dropped by half when compared to the same period of 2008 to 2.7 million tonnes. Production declined by 34% YoY to 2.4 million tonnes. Import also recorded a significant slowdown by more than half to 1.2 million tonnes. Export dipped by 12% to 878,000 tonnes.
(Sourced from www.seaisi.org)
