Last year the number of deals in the metals sector fell to 507 from 531 in 2011, but the value rose 20% to $US45.8 billion ($A44.6 billion), the Forging Ahead report revealed.

However, the Asia Pacific region accounted for $31.1 billion, or 68%, of the total, which included the completion of the $9.4 billion merger between Sumitomo and Nippon Steel first announced in 2011.

Activity in all other regions, North America, Central and South America and Western Europe, was down on 2011.

PwC is tipping large deals to dwindle this year, with deal volume forecast to rise 32.1% and value to jump 40.2%.

“There is no doubt that the industry is facing some of its toughest challenges yet as companies battle the headwinds of ongoing economic uncertainty, and unpredictable costs around raw materials and energy,” PwC global metals leader Jim Forbes said.

“On the surface, we are still seeing some mega-deals, but they are fewer and if we created a top 10 of the deals announced and completed in 2012, just half would have been valued above $1 billion.

“We also found through our analysis that the metals sector has experienced a ‘double dip’ downturn in M&A activity, with deal numbers outside the Asia Pacific region falling back down to the post-credit crunch low of 2009.”

In separate research, PwC found that just 9% of CEOs in Australasia – equal lowest with the Middle East – were planning M&A, joint ventures or strategic alliances this year, against 30% each in Western Europe and North America.

Across all sectors, it was found that “emerging markets” comprising China, India, Russia, Brazil and the Middle East were investing in developed economies including the UK, US, Australia, Canada, Japan and Germany.

In 2012, companies from emerging markets invested over $32.6 billion in mature market targets, almost three times the 2005 figure, and more than investment made by developed economies into emerging countries.