Steel Consumption to increase 7% in 2008/09

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 (Bernama) -- Local steel consumption is expected to increase by 7.0 percent next year and in 2009 from 7.7 million tonnes last year, the President of the Malaysian Iron and Steel Industry Federation Tan Sri Soong Siew Hoong said today."Major projects for implementation under the Ninth Malaysia Plan would likely boost demand for building materials and steel products domestically," he said at the Asean Steel conference here today."The growth rate of the Malaysian steel industry from 2007 until 2010 is expected to be lower but more sustainable averaging 6.0 percent annually," he said.He said steel consumption per capita was projected to increase to 318 kilogrammes in 2010 from 297 kg this year.Soong said the industry as a whole would have a made greater efforts to strengthen its position by growing the downstream sector to support the upstream sector.The industry was expected to expand its downstream activities to produce a wider range of higher-valued products, he said.He also said that growth was likely to come from more infrastructural projects.