Recently, the Secretary General of the Southeast Asian iron and Steel Association said at the meeting that the steel consumption of the six ASEAN countries is expected to drop by 2.1% to 79.3 million metric tons by 2020, mainly due to the decline in steel consumption in the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand.
In his speech, the Secretary General of the Southeast Asian iron and steel association mentioned that covid-19 has had a significant impact on ASEAN economy, and most people expect a V-shaped recovery by 2021. Historically, since the Asian financial crisis in 1997, ASEAN countries have recovered very quickly, and it usually takes less than a year to get back on track. It is estimated that by 2021, the steel consumption of the six ASEAN countries will increase by 5%, reaching 83.2 million tons, of which the demand of the Philippines is expected to increase by 6.9%, and that of Thailand will increase by 5%. Meanwhile, demand in Vietnam and Indonesia will grow moderately by 3.3% and 3.4% respectively by 2021.