Malaysian steel milll starts billet output

OREANDA-NEWS. Malaysian steel producer Hiap Teck Venture and its Chinese partner Shougang have started billet production at their Eastern Steel joint-venture plant in Malaysia.

The mill will initially produce 700,000 t/yr of semi-finished casting products such as billets and slabs, rising to 1.5mn t/yr when the first phase of construction is completed. Another 1.5mn t/yr of production capacity is planned to be added in a second expansion phase.

The 1.8bn ringgit (\$500mn) plant is located at Teluk Kalung in east peninsular Malaysia's Terengganu state. It is majority owned by Hiap Teck with Shougang holding a 40pc stake. Hiap Teck took a 55pc stake in Malaysian iron ore mining venture Vista Mining in September last year, with the aim of becoming an integrated steel firm.

Large Chinese steel producers are being encouraged by Beijing to shift production to Asia, South America and Africa, as the country plans to pare down its over 1bn t/year capacity, largely to control air pollution.