Malaysia extends current steel policy

Malaysia extends current steel policy

The Malaysian government announced that it would extend its current steel policy in order to help construction industry. On February 25, 2004, the Malaysian government implemented a policy that restricted export of steel billets and bars while also relaxing the imports of subject products in order to ensure domestic availability. The policy was initially put in to effect for six months; however, the government extended it for another six months, i.e till February 25, 2005. After recently analyzing the market situation, the government decided to extend the policy indefinitely. The policy also upholds the current import duty on steel bars, which was reduced from 15% to 0% last year. The government announced that the export of steel bars will be allowed, on the condition that the producers show their export license and contracts along with details of the export shipments. On the other hand, the government announced that both the 50% import duty on flat products, which was implemented on March 15, 2002, and the duty of 5% on flat products imported from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will remain at the same levels. The construction industry will certainly welcome the government's new decision, which will ensure that there will be no shortages of steel billets or bars in the Malaysian domestic market.