Malaysia managed to increase by more than two times its longs steel exports in the first five months this year and also increased semis shipments, being the second largest exporter in the ASEAN region, according to presentations made during an e-talk held by SEAISI on October 6.
In the January-May period this year, total longs, sections and semis exports from Malaysia totalled around 2.8 million mt, SteelOrbis learned during an e-talk. Out of this amount, 1.5 million mt were represented by wire rod exports, versus 1.3 million mt shipments of this product in the whole year of 2019. The main sales destination was China and the Philippines took second place. A new mill, Alliance Steel, which has wire rod as one of its main sales products, has been increasing exports continuously.
Bar steel exports from Malaysia also increased significantly and reached 0.5 million mt in the first five months of the current year, with around 70 percent traded to China and the rest to Myanmar. Malaysia’s section exports totalled 0.2 million mt in the period under review, slightly above than the total tonnage shipped in the whole of 2019. “Malaysia is focusing on exports to ASEAN-6, rather than ASEAN-4. However, target markets have shifted to China and Myanmar in Covid-time,” said Pichsini Tepa-Apirak, senior technical manager at SEAISI.
In the semis segment, Malaysia took second place after Vietnam as the main exporter in the region, shipping 0.58 million mt in the January-May period of this year. Out of the total export volume, around 60 percent of supply went to China, owing to increased demand there for long steel.
China became the main outlet for Malaysia’s steel in the first half of 2020 and its share in total imports by China reached 7.5 percent, the highest among ASEAN countries. With the slowdown of demand for imported longs and billet in China, Malaysian exporters will target other regional Asian markets and will try to find new opportunities.