Lion Industries Corporation Berhad (LICB) in Malaysia announced to invest RM 3 billion to build up a new blast furnace facility and recommission hot-rolled coil (HRC) production in the second quarter of 2021. The annual capacity of HRC was expected to be between 2.5 to 3 million tons.

After this investment, the annual output of crude steel will reach 5.5 million tons. Among them, 4.5 million tons will be used on HRC production, 1 million tons to be made of high-grade bars and rods.

According to the outlook report issued by the Ministry of Finance's Economic, benefited from the revival of major infrastructure and affordable housing projects, the government forecasted the growth of 13.9% in the construction sector next year, which will support LICB to expand its capacity to fulfill domestic demand and replace the imports.