In the first half of 2026, the three main Southeast Asian markets drew three completely different inquiry curves.

The numbers are specific. AAC-related inquiries from Indonesia rose 62 percent year on year. Hollow block machine inquiries from the Philippines rose 48 percent. Brick machine inquiries from Vietnam fell 15 percent. Same region, same period, three opposite directions.

Indonesia: AAC leads

Two forces drive Indonesia's AAC demand. The first is the new capital Nusantara. Progress is slow but steady, and the residential and commercial projects around it are already moving. The second is light-steel housing around Jakarta, which consumes large volumes of AAC panels.

Indonesian buyers ask most often for AAC lines rated 150,000 to 300,000 cubic meters per year, with the host machine. They ask for a higher automation level than many expect, and most want fully automatic cutting plus fully automatic steam curing as standard.

Dongyue has more than 40 AAC projects in Indonesia, concentrated in East and Central Java. In the first half of this year, three closed and two more are in negotiation.

Philippines: hollow block surge

Philippine hollow block inquiries in the first half ran nearly 50 percent above the same period last year. The timing lines up closely with the launch of several large resettlement projects around Manila.

Philippine buyers are practical. They do not want the biggest machine on the spec sheet, but they have hard requirements. Mold changes must be fast, because one project may need 4-inch, 6-inch, and 8-inch hollow blocks at the same time. The equipment must survive the local unstable grid. Spare parts must be available in the country.

Sales data shows Philippine buyers prefer mid-range models priced between RMB 200,000 and 350,000. The QT4-15 and QT6-15 account for over 70 percent of Dongyue's Philippine shipments.

Vietnam: a brief cool-down

The Vietnamese market was genuinely quiet in the first half. After the procurement wave from 2024 through the first half of 2025, many brick plants had already filled their capacity and saw no reason to expand.

Two signals are worth watching. In June 2026 Vietnam's Ministry of Construction issued a revised building code that raised the mandatory share of non-fired bricks. Plants running older equipment may fail the new standard. That points to a replacement cycle from the second half of 2026 into 2027.

Dongyue has no local office in Vietnam yet and works through an agent in Hanoi. In the second half, the company is considering a spare parts depot in Ho Chi Minh City to shorten response time for southern clients.

Three reminders for suppliers

● Do not treat Southeast Asia as one market. Indonesia wants AAC lines, the Philippines wants mid-range hollow block machines, and Vietnam is waiting. Sales strategy and configuration must be built separately for each.

● Local service is what closes the deal. Carlos in the Philippines said plainly that without a Manila office and parts stock, he would not have reordered.

● Indonesia's AAC window is open, but more domestic suppliers are moving in. Competing on price will not work. German technology background, local reference cases, and after-sales response speed are what separate the field.

For a direct conversation about the Southeast Asia market, contact Dongyue's overseas sales team.