Asia Minerals Limited (AML, Chairman Hirotaka Suzuki) is a resource company that conducts business in Asia. PFA is a ferroalloy manufacturer in Malaysia managed by AML, and PFA will expand and strengthen their production capacity of ferrosilicon for steelmaking to 1.7 times higher than their current capacity. PFA utilizes electricity from hydropower generation, and so their CO2 emissions from manufacturing products is practically zero. They believe there will be an increase in demand for environmentally friendly ‘green alloy’ and will establish operations for steadily supplying those products.
Ferrosilicon is mainly used for deoxidization purposes. China and Russia are major producers of ferrosilicon, but recently there has been rising interest in other ferrosilicon-producing countries from the standpoint of national economic security. Japanese integrated steel producers seeking to move away from their reliance on Russia have also been showing a keen interest in Malaysian products.
Currently PFA produces not only ferrosilicon but also silico-manganese as well. Their current (annual) production volume is 60,000 tons for ferrosilicon and 150,000 tons for silico-manganese. The company is planning to strengthen and expand their production capacity of ferrosilicon, and they will do so by newly installing 2 electric furnaces. They plan to establish an operation (with an actual production capacity) to produce 100,000 tons with a total of 5 electric furnaces. The company is scheduling to strengthen and expand their facilities once a decision is reached within their governing body. If the plan proceeds on schedule, the company expects the new facilities to begin operations from 2025.
As of now, the export volume of ferrosilicon to Japan is about 25,000 tons, and for silico-manganese the amount exported is around 60,000 tons. By strengthening and expanding their production capacity, the company will be able to increase their capacity to supply products to Japan. The ferroalloy manufacturer Nippon Denko and also Shinsho Corporation have stakes in PFA as well.
In terms of strengthening and expanding their production capacity, it will also be necessary for PFA to ensure that they have a steady supply of electricity, and in addition the company will need to establish related infrastructure as well, such as by strengthening and expanding their capacity to unload raw materials. PFA has a plant in Sarawak State, and in October PFA signed an MoU with the Sarawak State Government. The company and the State Government agreed on cooperating on such matters as the supply of electricity. Mr. Suzuki of AML commented “In response to the trend of various companies seeking to move away from their reliance on Russia, we would like to cooperate with the State Government to steadily supply green alloy to our customers in Japan.”
