Masteel plans RM100m mill, boost capacity to 530,000 tonnes

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Steel Works (KL) Bhd (Masteel) plans to invest RM100 million in a new rolling mill with an annual production capacity of 180,000 tonnes.

It said on Thursday, June 23, the new mill would increase its existing rolling mill capacity by 51% to 530,000 tonnes by the second half of 2012.

“Masteel’s RM100 million investment in the new rolling mill will be funded by internally generated funds and bank borrowings,” it said.

The steel manufacturer said the expansion was to tap into the expected rise in demand for steel products in Malaysia, spurred on by property market boom and mega infrastructure projects in the country.

The new mill will next to the group’s existing meltshop in Bukit Raja, Klang, making the plant a fully-integrated steel milling facility.

Masteel’s meltshop has an annual capacity of 550,000 tonnes in Bukit Raja that produces upstream billets, and a rolling mill at Petaling Jaya that produces 350,000 tonne of downstream steel bars.

“With the new rolling mill, the Group will effectively add about 51% to its existing rolling mill capacity, and will have a total capacity of 530,000 metric tonne by second half of 2012,” it said.

Managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tai Hean Leng said: “Our present upstream and downstream facilities are currently operating at high utilisation rates of 78% and 82% respectively, in order to cope with the rising demand for steel products as a result of the increased number of property development projects in the country, notwithstanding the expected demand thrust caused by the Klang Valley MRT project in the next few years.

“Therefore, the planned increase in our capacity is timely for the Group to ride on the wave of burgeoning demand for steel.”