The Need for an ASEAN Council on Steel

I co-chaired a roundtable of ASEAN policymakers on the steel industry with the Secretary-General of the South East Asia Iron and Steel Institute (SEAISI) Yeoh Wee Jin and MITI’s Deputy Secretary-General Dato’ Hanafi Sakri.

While the steel industry associations in ASEAN engage each other via SEAISI, for some reasons, governments of ASEAN nations do not seem to talk to each other about the steel industry.

Usually, trade officials of ASEAN would meet regularly but those responsible for industries rarely venture out of the country. Industrial development is treated as a domestic matter and often individual countries see themselves in competition with their neighbours for foreign investments.

This line of thinking only helps foreign investors to get the best deal, often including tax reliefs and other benefits, at the expense of the interests of ordinary citizens.

The steel industry is crucial to almost every industrialised nation. From homes, bridges, to cars and equipment, steel is needed in all. Yet the steel industry is facing existential threats from global overcapacity, capacity underutilisation, the Trump tariffs, green transition, etc.

The inaugural roundtable among government officials from Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and Myanmar on steel was fascinating.

All officials were very concerned about the need to ensure that only the highest standards of steel are used in the construction of high rise buildings. The worries were the reactions to the earthquakes in Thailand and Myanmar, as well as earthquake risks in the region. Even Peninsula Malaysia has to worry about earthquakes after the occurrence in Segamat recently.

Other issues include:

• Steel capacity management

• Decarbonisation agenda

• Trade issues such as dumping and countervailing

• Technology transfer, training, and skills development

The meeting participants agreed to propose to their respective governments to consider the formation of an ASEAN Council on Steel to bring together government officials responsible for steel to discuss common issues in a more structured gathering.

We look forward to the Philippines hosting the next ASEAN Policymakers Conference on Steel next year when it chairs ASEAN for 2026.