In January 2024, MITI Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz established an Independent Committee on the Iron and Steel Industry to study the current state of the iron and steel industry and provide recommendations to the Government on ways to ensure the twin sustainability of the steel industry: financial and environmental sustainability.
The committee is chaired by chaired by HSBC Malaysia CEO Dato’ Omar Siddiq and its members include Dr Ong Kian Ming, former Deputy MITI Minister; Yeoh Wee Jin, Secretary General of the Southeast Asia Iron and Steel Institute; Datuk Hisham Hamdan, Khazanah; and Chen Li-Kai, former head of McKinsey and Company, Malaysia.
The Independent Steel Committee consulted widely and completed its report in November 2024, which will be presented by MITI to the National Investment Council chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Together with the Independent Steel Committee members and MITI official Nadia Sapee (Director, Resource-Based Policy, Industry Development Division), I held consultative sessions with the Malaysian Iron and Steel Industry Federation (MISIF) and Malaysia Steel Association (MSA) today – the two key iron and steel industry associations – to gauge their views. The two associations have been permitted to sight the ISC Report, which is currently still classified.
I am glad to note that both associations support the recommendations of the Independent Steel Committee to overcome the long-standing challenges:
1. Underutilisation of steel production capacity (which results in financial unsustainability of the steel sector).
2. Governance and oversight on the steel industry (including empowering the Malaysia Steel Council and Malaysia Steel Institute).
3. Green transition and decarbonisation of the steel industry in line with the nation’s goal of achieving Net Zero by 2050.
All sizable and significant industrial nations have a strong domestic steel industry. It is my fervent hope that we can build a resilient and sustainable Malaysian steel industry.