Malaysia Committed To Creating G2G Mechanism With China In Support Of Steel Industry

Malaysia is committed to working with China to establish a government-to-government (G2G) mechanism for capacity management and technology sharing within the steel industry.

Deputy Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Liew Chin Tong said the government is also advocating for discussions on the steel industry's challenges and potential collaboration with China at the ASEAN level.

At the same time, he said, there is a need to improve the governance structure of the country's iron and steel industry.

Currently, there are various bodies such as the Malaysian Steel Council (MSC) and the Malaysian Steel Institute (MSI).

“We see the need to improve the MSC to ensure it meets more regularly and receives more robust input from the industry.

“Similarly, the MSI requires a total revamp of its roles to be a credible source of robust policy input,” he said in his speech at the Malaysian Iron and Steel Industry Federation's (MISIF) 14th Conference on the Status and Outlook of the Malaysian Iron & Steel Industry.

Liew said the industry faces two critical challenges: overcapacity and green transition.

He said the imbalance between local long product capacity and imported flat product volume must be addressed.

“With investments directed towards building up the local capacity in both manufacturing and utilisation of flat products, we hope to see an improvement in this imbalance and increase in the economic sustainability of the industry,” he said.

However, industry players need to be cautious of the emissions that follows, he said, adding that if all the approved steel capacity comes online, the emissions would be equivalent to having six coal-fired power plants and challenge Malaysia's commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

He said mechanisms need to be put in place to facilitate the green transition of the iron and steel industry.

“This brings us to the introduction of a carbon tax to the industry, which was announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in his Budget 2025 speech.

“Once implemented, among others, the carbon tax collected can be utilised to fund the green transition of the iron and steel industry,” he added.