October
THE STEEL NOTICEBOARD
2023

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Average Monthly Steel Products Selling Price(per MT)
01 Billet

02 Steel Bar

03 Steel Wire Rod

RM2,443 - RM2,502

RM2,732 - RM2,811

RM2,808 - RM2,948

Average Monthly Raw Material Price(per MT)04 Scrap Iron

RM1,521 - RM1,692

05 Iron Ore

RM475 - RM584

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02Trade Performance
Malaysia's Trade
Performance
January-October 2023
Malaysia’s iron and steel total trade value in October 2023
grew by 12.5 percent to RM5.4 billion from RM4.8 billion in
October 2022. Trade balance has declined to trade deficit of
RM399.8 million from trade surplus of RM686.7 million for thesame comparison period.
Malaysia’s iron & steel export in October 2023 contracted by 7.4
percent to RM2.5 billion in 2023 from RM2.7 billion in 2022. Threemain export destinations in October 2023 were Hong Kong,
Singapore and Australia accounting for 11.2, 10.0 and 9.8
percent of the total export value respectively.
Malaysia’s iron & steel import in October 2023 grew by 45.0
percent from RM2.0 billion in 2022 to RM2.9 billion in 2023.
Imports from China, Japan and Taiwan accounted for the top
three (3) spots representing 28.1, 12.3 and 9.9 percent of thetotal import value respectively.
From January to October 2023, the total trade value of the ironand steel products stood at RM51.2 billion in 2023 compared to
RM57.4 billion in the same period in 2022, a reduction by 10.8
percent. Further, the trade balance widened from a trade
surplus of RM82.4 million in 2022 to a trade deficit of RM1,449.1
million in 2023 during the same period of comparison.
by Juliana Ahmad

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03

Malaysia Trade Performanceof Iron & Steel Industry
Month Trade Value
October 2023: RM5.4 billion

12.5% M-o-M change

October 2022: RM4.8 billion

Month Balance of Trade
October 2023: (RM399.8 million)
Trade Deficit

158.2% M-o-M change

October 2022: RM686.7 million
01
Trade Surplus

Month
02 Export
October 2023: RM2.5 billion

7.4% M-o-M change

October 2022: RM2.7 billion

Month Import
October 2023: RM2.9 billion

45.0% M-o-M change

October 2022: RM2.0 billion

YTD Trade Value
Jan - Oct 2023: RM51.2 billion

10.8% Y-o-Y change

Jan - Oct 2022: RM57.4 billion

YTD Balance of Trade
Jan - Oct 2023: (RM1,449.1 million)
Trade Deficit
Jan - Oct 2022: RM82.4 million
Trade Surplus

1,858.6% Y-o-Y change

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04

Launching of National Industry ESG Framework (i-ESG)
The National Industry ESG Framework(i-ESG) was launched on 2 October 2023. The i-ESG aims to accelerate thetransition towards sustainable practices among manufacturing companies, premised on four key pillars standards, financing, capacity building, and market mechanisms - supported by 17 strategies, 50 deliverables,and six key enablers. MSI witnessed the i-ESG launch and will assist in this initiative with regards to the iron & steel
players.
In Phase 1.0, MITI will host clinic sessions to empower and guide 50 companies in producing their first sustainability
report. The first clinic was held at end of October 2023, following this more clinic sessions will follow. For thoseinterested, can contact their respective business associations or chambers for details.
by Syafiq Daniel

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05

Sesi Perhimpunan Bulanan MITI dan Agensi Bil. 3/2023
Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) hosted the MITI monthly meeting with its Agencies at KL
Sentral. The hybrid gathering is not only symbolic but acts the platform for the unity of the citizens of MITI and its
Agencies. The meeting also helps to reinforce the vigour of its personal in thriving to fulfil the Ministry’s mission andinitiatives to boost investment, strengthen trade and empower the country’s industries.
YB Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) reminded
MITI and its agencies to continue to be committed in supporting MITI’s mission and initiatives but also to increasethe ‘ease of doing business’ to attract and create confidence of investors to choose Malaysia as their top
investment destination.
by Asmalyn Mohd Ali

Image Credit: Official Instagram: Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, Malaysia

Seminar On Shaping the Future of Digitalisation in Construction

The “Seminar on Shaping the Future of Digitalisation inConstruction” was held on 11 October 2023 at the Kuala Lumpur
Convention Centre in conjunction with MBAM One Build 2023
Exhibition.
The seminar provided the platform to enable the sharing of thecurrent and the future digital construction direction covering
policies, guidelines, best practices in line with CIDB Construction
4.0 and provided knowledge to the industry players for the
betterment of the Malaysian construction industry .
by Asmalyn Mohd Ali
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05

Closing Ceremony of the MITI and Agencies Sport Days
On 14th October 2023, Mr. Lim Keng Yow, CEO of MSI, represented MSI at the Closing Ceremony of the MITI and
Agencies Sport Days. The event, officiated by YB Senator Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz,
Minister of MITI, took place at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Stadium in Bangi, Selangor. This event also
marked the conclusion of the MITI and agencies sports day and was attended by top management, MITI senior
officers, heads of agencies under MITI, as well as employees and their families.
MSI extends its congratulations to MIDA for emerging as the champion, followed by SIRIM as the 1st runner-up, andMITI securing the 2nd runner-up position.
by Syafiq Daniel

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05Strategic Trade Summit 2023 (MySTS)The Strategic Trade Secretariat (STS) of the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), in collaboration with
the Export Control and Related Border Security Program (EXBS), the Department of State and the International
Nonproliferation Export Control Program (INECP), U.S. Department of Energy hosted the Malaysia Strategic Trade
Summit 2023 (MySTS) from 23 to 26 October 2023 at the Shangri-la Hotel Kuala Lumpur. This event was officiatedby YB Senator Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Minister of MITI.
Three (3) main programs were held in conjunction of MySTS Summit as follows:i) Industry Outreach on Strategic Trade (IOST) - to create awareness to national enterprises of their responsibilities
on the overall theme of sustainability and security of supply chain management that includes the inter-relations
between security and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as the Environment, Social andGovernance (ESG) agenda. Additionally, the IOST event aims to cultivate and maintain enterprise awareness of
non-proliferation topics related to intangible technology transfer and cybersecurity best practices.
ii) Women in Strategic Trade Forum (WiST) – to increase opportunities for women’s professional advancement in
the Strategic Trade Control (STC) field. Highlighted the prominent and essential roles and contributions of womenin STCs, and provides a forum to share experiences, best practices and lessons learned implementing STCs.
iii) Southeast Asian Forum on Export Controls (SEAFEC) provided updates on their respective STC systems anddiscussed end user controls, catch-all controls, emerging technology controls, and transit/transshipment
challenges. This forum also provided an opportunity for ASEAN countries to share best practices, conductexchanges and identify areas for cooperation in encouraging development of STCs at the regional level.
by Lee Hooi Lan

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08

Briefing RMK-12 Extensive Training Programme (8th Batch)
On 16th October 2023, MSI conducted briefing to participants of Iron and Steel Training Programme- Extensive Training 2023 batch 8. A total of 25 new workers from ZXT Ruifeng Sdn. Bhd participatedin the 15-day training programme conducted by several experienced trainers. The workers werefrom various departments such as steelmaking, rolling, maintenance, and logistics.
by Leon Lai

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09

Steel FactsDID YOU
KNOW?

Source: World Steel Association Website

Fun fact aboutsteel

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11

MALAYSIA
STEEL

NEWS

Cover Story: Steelmakers welcome government’s
two-year moratorium on long products
BY KAMARUL AZHAR / THE EDGE MALAYSIA
18 OCTOBER 2023
SOURCE: HTTPS://WWW.MORGANSTANLEY.COM/IDEAS/GREEN-STEEL-LOW-CARBON

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly
on November 20, 2023 - November 26, 2023
STEEL players have welcomed the government’s decision
to impose a two-year moratorium on all expansion anddiversification of manufacturing activities in the iron andsteel industry, saying the move will allow them toreconfigure their businesses.

(Illustration by Nurul Aida Mohd Noor/The Edge)

The government is also considering exemptions from themoratorium on projects for the production of complex
iron and steel products with high added value that
support the missions and aspirations of the New
Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) 2030.

Malaysia Steel Association (MSA) vice-president Datuk Seri Tai Hean Leng says the moratorium willallow the local steelmakers to have a “time out” to assess their businesses and capitalise on the
direction that the government is taking, as outlined under various policies.
The Madani government has introduced a bunch of new road maps to reform and restructure the
Malaysian economy, including through NIMP, the National Energy Transition Roadmap and the revised
12th Malaysia Plan (12MP).
“The moratorium will also allow Miti (Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry) to ‘operationalise’salient precepts from NIMP 2030 for its licensing of new steel capacities and financing support for
decarbonisation pathways,” Tai tells The Edge.
To recap, on Nov 14, Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Liew Chin Tong told the Dewan
Rakyat that the government had implemented a two-year moratorium on the expansion anddiversification of the country’s steel-making industry, effective Aug 15, 2023.
The moratorium covers all inquiries, assessments of current applications, new applications, licencetransfers, expansions, regularisations and diversifications for manufacturing licences in the iron andsteel industry. It also involves a freeze in the issuance of certificates for exemption frommanufacturing licence (ICA10) under the Industrial Coordination Act 1975 (Act 156) for manufacturing
activities, including non-ferrous recycling activities.
Looking at Malaysia particularly, over the five-year period from 2018 to 2022, the country’s ASC peakedat 9.78 million tonnes a year in 2018, declined 5.8% year on year to 9.21 million tonnes in 2019, before
plunging 26% y-o-y to 6.81 million tonnes in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The country’s ACS
then increased 3.2% y-o-y to 7.03 million tonnes in 2021 and 6.9% y-o-y to 7.52 million tonnes in 2022,
according to statistics produced by the Malaysian Iron and Steel Industry Federation (MISIF).

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13

In a commentary published in The Edge on Nov 13, Liew stated that Malaysia’s steel production
capacity in 2021 stood at 16.1 million tonnes per annum, being the third largest producer in Southeast
Asia behind Vietnam and Indonesia. This shows there is overcapacity in steel manufacturing in the
country.
At the same time, however, there is a gap in the supply of flat steel in Malaysia, according to Liew, as
long products had dominated steel production in the country for an extended period of time. Long
products are typically used in the construction sector, while flat products are more widely used in the
manufacturing sector.
As the government is committed to transforming the manufacturing industry to reach greater
heights, the country’s steel manufacturing industry needs to move up the value chain by producing
steel products that are not locally available to reduce the dependence on imported steel and toensure the availability of raw materials for the local industries that consume steel.
MISIF president Datuk Lim Hong Thye echoes this sentiment when contacted by The Edge. He says
many steel products, especially those of higher grade and hot rolled coils (HRC), are not being
produced in Malaysia.
“Malaysia is facing severe excess capacity in many areas like the production of rebar, wire rods forconstruction usage and cold rolled flat products. But Malaysia is also in a very peculiar situation
where we don’t have a single tonnage of HRC production, the main flat steel product. So, we hope thegovernment can use this moratorium to address this issue,” says Lim.
Miti’s deputy minister Liew said any new manufacturing licence applications for iron and steel
production would be evaluated based on 12 parameters set out under NIMP. However, the details arestill being ironed out.
On this, MISIF’s Lim proposes a strict enforcement of conditions to be imposed on manufacturing
licences issued for those products that are already in a serious overcapacity situation. He also
proposes that the government bring the banks together to work with existing steel mills that are
willing to reinvest to move up the value chain by producing higher-grade steel that is currently being
imported. “A reasonable time frame, conditions and incentives should be worked out,” he adds.
Meanwhile, MSA’s Tai says that to address the oversupply of long products, the association proposesthat the government impose a carbon tax to streamline the supply of low greenhouse gas emissions
long products in the local market. “Implement the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) toensure the import of long products from high GHG emissions foreign steel mills are restrained,” hesuggests.
He adds that the government should enact a Malaysian Green Steel Standard to ensure only millsthat have demonstrated substantive efforts to comply with the ESG framework to decarbonise theirprocesses and green their supply chain will be the preferred steel products for the local market.
It is not all doom and gloom for the local steel-making industry however. While many steel mills in the
country are grappling with overcapacity and inefficient operations, Eastern Steel Sdn Bhd has been
doing rather well. The company is a joint venture between Hiap Teck Venture Bhd (27.3% stake) andShanxi Jianlong Industry Co Ltd.
Eastern Steel successfully ignited a two million tonne blast furnace at its Kemaman plant in August
2023, which increased the JV entity’s steel production to 2.7 million tonnes, as part of a RM3 billion
investment that started in 2021.

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13

“This expansion in capacity, together with the progressive completion of the plant’s auxiliary facilities,
will lead to a multifold increase in the JV entity’s revenue with significant cost savings from thegreater economies of scale,” states Hiap Teck in its 2023 annual report.
According to the company, Eastern Steel recorded revenue of RM2.24 billion for the financial year
ended July 31, 2023, with a profit after tax of RM163.06 million. In FY2023, Hiap Teck’s share of profit from
Eastern Steel amounted to RM44.52 million.
Looking ahead, Malaysia’s ASC is anticipated to grow by 4.1% to 7.8 million tonnes in 2023 and another
4.1% to 8.1 million tonnes in 2024. Although still below pre-pandemic levels, the ASC is expected tocontinue growing in tandem with the country’s development.
Open communication and collaboration between industry stakeholders and the government will be
crucial to ensure the moratorium positively impacts the industry’s overall trajectory, says Calvin Ooi,
executive director of Leon Fuat Bhd. “We are open to constructive dialogue with the relevant
authorities to ensure the moratorium serves the best interests of the industry and supports initiatives
that contribute to its long-term sustainability and growth.”
He adds that incentivising diversification in the steel industry through targeted financial incentives
such as tax breaks and subsidies are key to encouraging steel millers and traders to broaden theirproduct portfolios.
Ooi also proposes regular industry assessments to proactively identify potential oversupply situations,allowing for timely adjustments to policies and strategies based on dynamic market conditions. “Thisapproach, tailored to the trading and processing nature of companies like ours, will contribute to a
resilient and innovative steel industry,” he says.

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13

Date//Time//Year

About MSI
Malaysia Steel Institute (MSI) is an industry driven enterprise
supported and funded by the Ministry of Investment, Trade &Industry (MITI) on shared responsibility basis with the industry. The
main objectives of MSI are to promote and develop thecompetitiveness, resilience and sustainability of the Malaysian Ironand steel industry; to provide advisory services and to carry out
commission or promote the study of scientific, technology andeconomic aspects of iron and steel industry development in
Malaysia; and to promote iron and steel product standardization
and utilization within Malaysia. For more information, please visit
malaysiasteelinstitute.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn and YouTube.
Tell us what you think of our newsflash. Your input will help us
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Comms.MSIOur Super Team

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Assistant Manager, IRL

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Chief Executive Officer

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Executive, IRL

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15

TRAINING PROGRAMME
2023
PROGRAMME LIST:QUALITY MANAGEMENTSAFETY MANAGEMENTTRADE PRACTICESTECHNICALSOFT SKILLSENVIROMENTAL, SOCIAL AND
GOVERNANCE (ESG)
Scan for more info

More Informationwww.malaysiasteelinstitute.com
training@malaysiasteelinstitute.com

January 2023

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You
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Thank you for taking the time to read this Newsflash. Yourattention and interest are greatly appreciated. If you haveany questions or comments, please feel free to reach out tous.

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