Indonesian hot rolled coils (HRC), which is a type of steel product, can now enter the Malaysian market. The coils managed to tap Malaysia’s market following their government’s decision to stop the investigation on safeguards after assessing that Indonesian steel will not jeopardize the sales of Malaysia’s local products.
Karyanto Suprih, acting director general of foreign trade at the Trade Ministry, said that the Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI)—the authority that handles the safeguard investigation—has completed its studies.
“They did not find indications for possible losses or threats of loss resulting from importing products,”Karyanto said in Jakarta on Tuesday, January 26.
According to Karyanto, the decision was announced in the Notice of Negative Preliminary Determination on January 6.
The safeguard investigation over Indonesian HRC began on September 7, 2015 at the request of one of Malaysia’s largest steel producers, Megasteel Sdn. Bhd.
The investigation was based on allegations of domestic industry losses due to an imports surge of HRC products.
Karyanto hopes that the termination of the safeguard investigation can help expand Indonesia’s export share for HRC product to Malaysia. In 2014, Indonesian HRC had a 6.1-percent share of Malaysia’s total imports.
