ASTEEL’s Reinvention: Can a Downstream Focus Reverse Years of Losses?

ASTEEL Group (formerly known as YKGI Holdings Berhad) is today primarily engaged in the manufacturing and trading of steel-related products.

Prior to 2019, the company operated in both the upstream and downstream steel segments. Its upstream operations—which included the production of cold rolled coils and galvanized coils - were capital-intensive and faced intense competition from low-cost imports, particularly from China. As a result, the group suffered significant losses due to industry overcapacity, volatile steel prices, and thin margins.

In 2018–2019, the company exited the upstream business with the disposal of its Bukit Raja plant. This strategic move aimed to stem losses, reduce debt, and reposition the group toward higher-margin downstream manufacturing and trading activities.

In 2023, the company was rebranded as ASTEEL Group, with a renewed focus on downstream steel products - particularly roofing systems and structural components.

Although the company has not yet returned to consistent profitability - recording losses from 2022 to 2024 - there are signs of recovery. Over the past six years, revenue has grown by 4.3% CAGR, and gross profit margins have shown improvement, indicating early progress in its turnaround efforts.

As such you should not be surprise to see that if falls into the Turnaround quadrant in the Fundamental Mapper.

YKGI used to own one of the few cold rolling mills in Malaysia. But they sold it off in 2019 and did not benefit for the spike in steel prices over the past 2 years. Did they make a mistake by selling it? One way to answer this is to compare its results with other cold rolling mills in Malaysia. If you want to see how they performed comparatively, refer to https://www.i4value.asia/2020/09/is-csc-steel-value-trap-part-1-of-2.html#more