U Myint Swe  said this during a talk on the development of Myanmar’s iron and steel manufacturing sector organised by Danieli in Mandalay. He said there is a big gap between the quantity of domestic production and potential demand.

“The World Steel Association’s projection’s for our country’s show market demand will rise to about three million tonnes by next year and continue to surge to about five million tonnes in 2025. So there is a big gap between production and demand. To close the gap, local manufacturing sector really needs to develop. The steel industry has a major role in developing the economy of a country. Our domestic steel industry will need to develop for the Myanmnar’s industrial development,” said U Myint Swe.

While the local production of steel products was between 150,000 and 200,000 tonnes in 2018, 2.4 milion tonnes of steel was imported from other countries. Long products were 60 pc out of 2.4 million tonnes imported, while the other 30 pc being flat products and 10 pc wood substitute products in homes.

Both standard and low-quality products were among the items imported from foreign countries. Locally manufactured products accounted for only 10pc of local demand, said U Thein Zaw, director of the Ministry of Industry’s No. 1 Heavy Industrial Enterprise .

To develop local industry standards, the Iron and Steel Standardization Sub-committee was formed by National Standards Council last March,” said U Thein Zaw.

The technology used by local manufacturers is really outdated and the products don’t meet international standard and can’t be used in the construction industry or for high-rise buildings, said Danieli Myanmar’s marketing and sales manager U Thiha Aung.

“We have to import iron rods from foreign countries and there is no QC for them. So, Ministry of Industry and Myanmar Iron and Steel Association will cooperate to create a Myanmar Steel Standard. It will be released next year. Both importers and manufacturers need to comply with it. Right now, we have to import 90pc of domestic consumption from foreign countries, mainly from China,” he said.

Danieli Myanmar’s MD Mrinal Mukherjee said industry events were held in Yangon in 2017 and 2018, and this is the first time such an event was being held in Mandalay.

Organising the event in another city helps spread information about the need for quality control, and developing the local steel-manufacturing industry.