Market outlook
Looking to Southeast Asia: Innovation engine for global supply chains
In the wake of our Southeast Asia Valve World event, here is an article about the innovation and the expansion of Asian markets.
By Messe Duesseldorf
Dreamstime
A catalyst for global supply chain stability
Southeast Asian countries, collectively known as the ASEAN, have shown the ability to adapt and prosper amid economic uncertainty. The region’ s plastics manufacturing sector, in particular, has leveraged its strategic position within global supply chains and its diversified industrial base- including automotive, bioplastics, medical devices, packaging and chemicals. Preliminary growth reports suggest that Southeast Asia’ s plastics sector will register a turnover of 32 million tonnes this year and grow by 4 % to almost 39 million tonnes by 2030, according to Mordor Intelligence.
Regional EV growth accelerates
In recent years, Southeast Asia has intensified its efforts to ramp up policies for the adoption of electric vehicles( EVs), in response to the growing global take on carbon emissions reductions. According to the ASEAN Secretariat, the region’ s per capita CO2 emissions remain among the lowest in the world at 3.9 tonnes— well below China( 7.1) and the United States( 14). With strong growth potential in production and natural resources, Southeast Asia’ s EV market is set to grow from US $ 1.5 billion in 2025 to US $ 6 billion by 2030, with a 32 % CAGR, according to Mordor Intelligence. Thailand, known as the“ Detroit of Asia,” is pushing ahead, aiming for 30 % production by
2030( 725,000 cars, 675,000 motorcycles). The country has also significantly reduced excise tax for electric cars from 8 % to 2 % and offers import duty reductions of up to 40 %, attracting manufacturers like China’ s BYD, which recently opened its first Southeast Asian EV plant there.“ Next door” neighbour Malaysia is“ walking the talk” as it recently launched its first locally produced battery electric vehicle, called e-Mas, manufactured by national car brand Proton in collaboration with Chinese automaker Geely. Proton has also established a new R & D centre in China to accelerate EV development. As the world’ s top nickel producer, Indonesia is focusing on battery production. In 2023, the country produced 55 million tonnes of nickel – 42 % of the global supply. It is staying on track to produce 140 gigawatt hours( GWh) of batteries by 2030, and last year, launched its first US $ 1 billion EV battery plant in Karawang, West Java, capable of powering 150,000 EVs annually. Meanwhile, the Philippines remains in the early planning stages. This is despite the transport sector contributing over 50 % of outdoor air pollution in urban areas like Metro Manila. The shift to EVs is seen as a critical solution for improving urban air quality. Despite strong growth potential, Southeast Asia’ s EV industry still faces key challenges, including high costs of EV batteries, shortages of parts, lack of EV experts and skills programmes, electricity grid challenges and inconsistencies
62 Valve World August 2025 www. valve-world. net