Malaysia’s basic metal industries include iron and steel industry and non-ferrous metal industry. This industry has witnessed major developments over the years concurrently with the country’s industrial development.
Iron and Steel
The Malaysian Iron and Steel industry includes the primary steel products such as hot briquetted iron, direct reduced iron, blooms/slabs and steel billets and an extensive variety of down-stream flat and long products such as hot rolled coils, cold rolled coils, roofing sheets, coated steel coils, steel pipes and sections, steel billets, steel bars, wire mesh, wire rods, hard drawn wires, galvanised wires, steel wire products, steel wire ropes, stainless steel pipes/pipes fittings and stainless steel wire and fasteners. There are at present more than 200 companies manufacturing these products with an annual output of Ringgit Malaysia (RM) 32.2 billion. The industry employs about 30, 000 people.
The Iron and Steel industry provides an important connection for the supply of basic raw materials and components to other sectors of the Malaysian economy, particularly the electrical/electronic industry, construction industry, furniture industry, automotive industry, machinery industry and engineering fabrication industry.
Non-Ferrous Metals
This sector includes products such as aluminium, tin, copper, lead, and zinc. The key participants is the aluminium industry, which manufactures aluminium sheets/foils, recycled aluminium ingots, aluminium fin stock, aluminium rods and aluminium extruded profiles, and the copper related companies, which produce copper rods/wires, copper strips, copper tubes/extrusions and tin metal. There are at present around 180 companies in the non-ferrous metal sector with an annual output of RM 8.9 billion. The sector provides employment to about 18, 000 workers. The non-ferrous metal industries offer connections chiefly in the electrical/electronic industry, construction industry, automotive industry, food and packaging industry.
The Third Industrial Master Plan 2006-2020 (IMP3) has recognized six planned thrusts to further improve the development of the iron and steel industry:
- Improving the competitiveness of the iron and steel industry to support the expansion of the manufacturing and construction sectors.
- Sustaining and growing iron and steel product exports for existing and new markets.
- Endorsing new applications of steel in certain industries.
- Promoting alliance between producers and users of steel, and up-stream and down-stream manufacturers.
- Drawing new investments in niche areas in the iron and steel industry.
- Developing skilled workforce in the iron and steel industry.
Last Updated on: 18-11-2009
