CONF: Malaysian steel industry "cautiously optimistic"
The Malaysian steel industry is “cautiously optimistic” about its domestic steel market this year though it is still awaiting the newly elected government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to appoint a new minister responsible for the steel industry, according to Frankie C H Wee, chief executive officer of Malaysian Iron & Steel Industry Federation (MISIF).
“For the past four or five months, many people have taken a wait-and-see stance and now, after the election has been held in a truly democratic manner, we are waiting for the industry minister appointment,” Wee told delegates attending the 2018 SEAISI Conference and Exhibition on June 25 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Wee said that the industry will be engaging with the new government, believing that all the ongoing projects backed by the administration of former prime minister Najib Razak will still proceed.
New mega projects have been under review, and the new government which came to office after the country’s early May election will most probably still retain approval if the projects “give priority to the local content and participation,” Wee added.
“The government just needs to be convinced that the national economy can benefit from these projects, and local citizens can participate in them too,” Wee told Mysteel. After the early May election, one of the mega projects quickly put on the review list was the $14 billion 350-kilometer high-speed rail project to link Singapore and Malaysia’s capital of Kuala Lumpur, Mysteel notes.
So far, the new Mahathir government has not issued any economic-related projections for 2018, Wee confirmed.
In 2017, Malaysia achieved a robust economic growth of 5.9%, with its Q1 GDP growing by 5.4% on year. The overall slow-down in the construction sector evident across many ASEAN countries saw Malaysia’s apparent steel consumption fall 7.9% on year to 9.44 million tonnes, however. The country’s finished steel output remained largely unchanged at 6.65 million tonnes last year, among which bars accounted for the most at 2.55 million tonnes.
Last year too, Malaysia imported 8 million tonnes of iron and steel products, down 12.4% on year, with China’s contribution still the most at 2 million tonnes, down 45% on year. Malaysia’s iron and steel exports increased 36% on year to 3.1 million tonnes, with the other ASEAN countries being the core destination and receiving 855,643 tonnes, though this was down 8.6% on year.
Written by Hongmei Li, li.hongmei@mysteel.com
Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com
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