SteelMint Scrap Conference: ASEAN anticipation
SteelMint Scrap Conference: ASEAN anticipation
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Urbanization and economic growth are likely to keep steel consumption and steel production rising in Southeast Asia, according to speakers at SteelMint’s 2017 Steel Scrap & Raw Materials Conference Asia. Presenters from several ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries provided overviews.
Nghiem Xuan Da, the chairman of Vietnam Steel Corp., said new capacity installed in that nation allowed Vietnam’s steel billet production to leap by 118 percent in 2016. The nation’s steelmakers produced 7.8 million metric tons of steel in 2016 and used some 4 million metric tons of imported ferrous scrap as furnace charge.
Of that 7.8 million metric tons of steel produced, Da said 4.7 million metric tons (60.2 percent) was made via the electric arc furnace (EAF) method; 2.3 million metric tons (29.5 percent) was in basic oxygen furnaces (BOFs); and 0.8 million metric tons (10.3 percent) was produced in foundries and induction furnaces.
Da said the nation’s production and consumption of steel has continued growing in 2017, with Vietnam on track for 10 million metric tons of crude steel output for the year (28.2 percent growth). He said about 60 percent of the ferrous scrap needed to make that steel will be imported, with Japan sending nearly half of the total (48 percent). Hong Kong is listed as the next largest contributor, at 19 percent, with some of that scrap likely originating in China or other nations, before it is transloaded in Hong Kong.
Forecasts based on urbanization and economic growth have Vietnam’s steel output continuing to rise, said Da. He said mill projects in the pipeline alone could help Vietnam reach 20 million metric tons of output in 2020, in which case the nation will need some 8 million metric tons of imported ferrous scrap.
Thailand’s current steel industry growth is not as dynamic, said Rajiv Mangal, president and CEO of Tata Steel Thailand PLC, however the nation’s steel sector does not include any integrated mill complexes, meaning its hunger for scrap is constant.
Thailand consumes about 18 to 19 million metric tons of steel annually, said Mangal, and it is among the top three importers of finished steel globally. That is one of several factors in place that could help prompt further investment in steelmaking in Thailand, he said.
Mangal said Thailand’s five-year plan includes a sizable infrastructure project called the Eastern Economic Corridor—a planned $43 billion project that includes a new airport, expanded port facilities, new and upgraded highways, and a high-speed rail line. The nation also is the 12th largest producer of assembled automobiles in the world.
Mangal characterized Thailand as having a “limited scrap supply” of its own, meaning it is likely to remain a significant net importer of ferrous scrap in the world market for the foreseeable future.
Though not part of the ASEAN trade region, India also is growing as a steelmaker, said Mohit Pawnday of Mumbai-based Sarda Metals & Alloys Ltd. India’s per person steel consumption is low, at 63 kilograms (139 pounds) per person, but growing, said Pawnday. “We should [also] see major steel production growth in India,” he remarked.
The ferroalloys niche represents one opportunity, said Pawnday, with low energy prices driving the expansion of manganese output in Malaysia and Indonesia. Plants in India that produce ferrochrome have allowed that nation to become the world’s third -argest exporter of that alloy, said Pawnday. In his view, India can remain competitive in this sector because power costs are falling and there remains access to cheap labor as well as to “skilled technical manpower.”
Subhendu Bose, the managing director of Singapore-based Duferco Asia, said that despite recent investments in capacity, the ASEAN region overall still has “far less [output] compared to consumption,” creating an opportunity for steel exporters in China, India and other nations.
Bose said steel pricing has been strong in 2017 for a number of reasons, including capacity cuts in China; efforts in the first half of 2017 to shrink finished steel inventories; a shortage of graphite electrodes that has put a ceiling on Asian EAF production; and limited scrap flows in ASEAN nations, creating another lid on EAF production in the region.
By spring of 2018, predicted Bose, Chines steel production will likely “ease back up,” and the shortage of electrodes for EAF furnaces will probably be resolved. “We should enjoy this as long as it lasts,” Bose said of the high steel prices.
SteelMint’s 2017 Steel Scrap & Raw Materials Conference Asia was Sept. 11-12 at the Avani Riverside Hotel in Bangkok.
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Source: Recycling Today
SteelMint Scrap Conference: ASEAN anticipation
<![CDATA[Urbanization and economic growth are likely to keep steel consumption and steel production rising in Southeast Asia, according to speakers at SteelMint’s 2017 Steel Scrap & Raw Materials Conference Asia. Presenters from several ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries provided overviews. Nghiem Xuan Da, the chairman of Vietnam Steel Corp., said new capacity installed in that nation allowed Vietnam’s steel billet production to leap by 118 percent in 2016. The nation’s steelmakers produced 7.8 million metric tons of steel in 2016 and used some 4 million metric tons of imported ferrous scrap as furnace charge. Of that 7.8 million metric tons of steel produced, Da said 4.7 million metric tons (60.2 percent) was made via the electric arc furnace (EAF) method; 2.3 million metric tons (29.5 percent) was in basic oxygen furnaces (BOFs); and 0.8 million metric tons (10.3 percent) was produced in foundries and induction furnaces. Da said the nation’s production and consumption of steel has continued growing in 2017, with Vietnam on track for 10 million metric tons of crude steel output for the year (28.2 percent growth). He said about 60 percent of the ferrous scrap needed to make that steel will be imported, with Japan…