September 06, 2008

Asean steel makers urged to remain competitive

It is reported that Asean steel manufacturers still have certain advantages over their counterparts in China despite the latter having gained a prominent penetration into the regional market in view of the Asean-China free trade agreement.

Mr Ong Keng Yong secretary general of Asean while speaking on the sidelines of the 8th MISIF Conference said that “Chinese products are very good and they compete quite well against our own Asean iron and steel products. Our own products would always be slightly pricier because we do not produce the kind of volume seen in China and adding that there were stills other ways to compete."

He however added that “We are close to our consumers for the iron and steel products and they would preferred our own Asean products.” Mr Ong said it was vital to reduce the existing cross border transaction cost to ensure lower pricing of the steel and iron products, which subsequently allows Asean products to better compete with that of China’s.

He also advocated producing more specialized items for the construction industry and consumers in the region. He added that “These can be fabricated in the factory instead of being individually fabricated at the construction site. These are the kinds of services that we can offer to make them better received to our customers.”