December 02, 2008

Malaysian steel consumption to increase by 7% YoY

It is reported that Malaysia's apparent steel consumption is expected to increase by 7% YoY in 2008 and in 2009 from 7.7 million tonnes in 2006.

Mr Tan Sri Soong Siew Hoong president of the Malaysian Iron and Steel Industry Federation while addressing at the Asean Steel conference in Kuala Lumpur said that “Major projects for implementation under the Ninth Malaysia Plan would likely boost demand for building materials and steel products domestically. The growth rate of the Malaysian steel industry from 2007 until 2010 is expected to be lower but more sustainable averaging 6% annually.”

He added that steel consumption per capita is projected to increase to 318 kilograms in 2010 from 297 kilograms in 2007.

Mr Hoong said that Malaysian steel industry as a whole would have a made greater efforts to strengthen its position by growing the downstream sector to support the upstream sector. The industry is expected to expand its downstream activities to produce a wider range of higher valued products and the growth is likely to come from more infrastructure projects.