Introduction

 

1. Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good evening to all of you. To all of our foreign guests, a warm welcome to all of you to Singapore. It is my pleasure to join you at the opening ceremony of the Singapore International Ferrous Week (SIFW) 2025. This is the fifth edition of SIFW, with over 3,000 participants from more than 22 countries, across 7 regions. Before I start my speech, I want to thank to SGX Commodities, Green Esteel, and partners for making SIFW an international success.

 

2. I wondered how to make this speech interesting so I did some research and one of the key elements of the industry is steel. A few days ago, I brought my family to watch Mission Impossible and next to the cinema, it showed that Superman, Man of Steel was going to be shown in a couple of weeks’ time. So I thought maybe I will mix it up a little bit and use that caricature to explain and describe how the industry is navigating a very interesting environment. As all of you know, steel is a ferrous alloy, primarily made of iron mixed with a small amount of carbon. With the upcoming Superman movie, I thought we could use the Man of Steel as a fitting analogy of our ferrous industry.

 

3. Superman flies around the world and many of you come from all over the world. As we fly around the world, we are confronted by kryptonite – the element that makes Superman weak – the uncertainty affecting the world economy.

 

Bright spots of growth amid uncertain global trade environment

 

4. There is much uncertainty in the global economy. Despite the 90-day pause in reciprocal tariffs, most businesses continue to adopt a wait-and-see approach and are delaying investments and hiring, as it is unclear how things will pan out. The ferrous industry has not been spared. Steel and aluminum were hit with US sectoral tariffs of 25%.

 

5. Global economic growth could slow with falling global trade. This will add pressure to the ferrous industry, which has struggled to replace the fall in demand for steel due to a weaker Chinese construction sector since 2020.

 

6. The effects of this global kryptonite are real and it is being felt by many of you. So where should our Man of Steel go? Where should he fly to? Thankfully, there are still growth opportunities in the longer-term, especially in this region.

 

a. He should fly to India and Southeast Asia. Why? As India and Southeast Asia remain key engines of global growth. A young, growing middle class and urbanisation provides growing demand for steel and other raw materials. Already, these markets are expected to add over 60 million tonnes in combined steelmaking capacity by 2026.

 

b. He should look for low-carbon steel. Demand for low-carbon steel, or Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) will continue to grow, as governments and businesses progress on their decarbonisation efforts.

 

c. He should go green. Maybe change his costume a little bit. Thankfully, his flights are carbon neutral. No GHG emissions. Why Go Green? As there are opportunities to decarbonise the industry across the steelmaking value chain. These will span new investments in high-grade iron ore mining assets, DRI manufacturing, and supply of low-carbon steel to end users.

 

7. Most importantly, Superman should come to Singapore. As a global commodities hub with about 60 global traders in the steel value chain, Singapore offers companies access to a diverse ecosystem of trading partners, financiers, and price reporting agencies to navigate increasingly complex supply chains.

 

8. With our strong financing and regulatory frameworks, Singapore is well-positioned geographically and strategically for companies to establish regional headquarters to capture opportunities from the growing Asian market.

 

Artificial intelligence (AI) and sustainability developments will help in capturing bright spots of growth

 

9. Superman cannot rely on his normal superpowers alone. He needs to put on an Iron Man suit. That means being more technologically advanced. In fact, businesses across all sectors must, in the same way, use technology to maintain their competitiveness and optimize operational efficiencies.

 

10. Market leaders are already using Generative AI (Gen AI) to optimise mining or steelmaking operations, enhance demand forecasting, and ensure supply chain remains resilience.

 

a. Singapore offers a ready talent pool of AI practitioners, startups, and R&D teams that can help accelerate AI adoption across the ferrous value chain. Singapore will continue to invest in the ecosystem, having committed over S$1 billion under our National AI Strategy 2.0 to grow AI talent and enhance digital infrastructure.

 

b. I am pleased to announce that BHP, with the support of Enterprise Singapore, will launch its first Industry AI Hub in Singapore this month. BHP is the world’s largest resources company. Its AI Hub will be crucial in its efforts to explore and implement AI to enhance safety, productivity, and efficiency across its global operations. In addition to building a core team of AI practitioners, AI Singapore (AISG) – a national programme to enhance AI capabilities and promote AI adoption – has been selected as a strategic partner to drive AI adoption within BHP.

 

11. Besides AI, the world must continue to decarbonise to mitigate climate change. Policies and investments to support decarbonisation efforts continue to be an important agenda for many countries.

 

a. One major source of emissions in the ferrous industry comes from shipping. This should come as no surprise, as iron ore and coal account for the largest share of the dry bulk shipping market.

 

b. As a maritime hub and home to the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation, Singapore wants to partner companies to develop new decarbonisation solutions.

 

i. For example, the Maritime Port Authority (MPA) is working closely with Fortescue on trials using green ammonia as a ship fuel. Last year, this partnership resulted in the world’s first demonstration of the use of ammonia, together with diesel, as a marine fuel in the Fortescue Green Pioneer ship.

 

12. Singapore looks forward to working with businesses across the ferrous sector value chain to unlock opportunities in AI and sustainable solutions, to capture the bright spots of growth.

 

Conclusion

 

13. Ladies and gentlemen, in a world where kryptonite threatens our ferrous industry, there are thankfully many alternative flight paths for Superman. We ought to Go green; Go tech; Go Asia; and to Come to Singapore. We must steel ourselves to navigate an increasingly complex global environment. I hope that through this year’s SIFW, we can renew existing ties and build new partnerships that will chart the way forward for the ferrous industry.

 

14. Thank you and may our ferrous industry Go Up Up and Away!