Malaysia plans to work with China to set up an intergovernmental mechanism to manage capacity and exchange technology in the steel industry.

Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Liew Chin Tong said the government also called for discussions on steel industry challenges and potential cooperation with China at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) level.

He said there was a need to improve the governance structure of Malaysia’s iron and steel industry, and currently, there are several bodies such as the Malaysian Steel Board and the Malaysian Steel Institute.

“We see a need to improve the Malaysian Steel Board, to ensure it meets more regularly and receives more robust inputs from the industry. Similarly, the Malaysian Steel Institute requires a complete revamp of its roles to be a reliable source of robust policy inputs,” he said in a speech at the 14th Malaysian Iron and Steel Association Conference on the State and Prospects of the Malaysian Iron and Steel Industry.

Liu added that the industry faces two critical challenges: overcapacity and green transformation, and that the imbalance between long-term domestic production capacity and imported fixed product volume must be addressed. “With investments directed towards building local capacities in both flat product manufacturing and utilization, we hope to see an improvement in this imbalance and an increase in the economic sustainability of the industry,” the vice minister said.