30/03/2026

BIZ & FINANCE MONDAY | MAR 30, 2026

15

Malaysia Smelting Corp begins building rotary furnace in Perak

TURNOVER on the Malaysian warrants market for the four-day trading week ended March 27 – due to the Hari Raya Aidilfitri public holiday – came in at RM496.3 million, which was 17% higher than in the prior week. The rise was driven by increased interest in Hang Seng Index (HSI) warrants, whose turnover hit RM265 million, which is 38% higher week on-week (w-o-w). Trading in HSI warrants made up the majority of total market turnover, clocking in at 53.5% of value traded. Trading in S&P500 Index (SP500) warrants also saw a surge last week, almost doubling in traded value, at RM2.6 million. The HSI kicked off the week deep in the red, with a 3.5% decline on Monday, marking a low for the week. Sentiment saw a slight improvement following reports of US President Donald Trump’s claim PETALING JAYA: Tin miner and metal producer Malaysia Smelting Corporation Bhd (MSC) has com menced construction of a rotary furnace at its Rahman Hydraulic Tin (RHT) mine in Klian Intan, Perak. The rotary furnace represents a strategic enhancement to MSC’s upstream operations by intro ducing on-site smelting at RHT, Malaysia’s largest open-cast tin mine. With a total investment of RM10 million and targeted for com pletion by the third quarter of FY26, the facility will have a processing capacity of about 10 tonnes per day. It will enable the group to convert tin ore into crude tin metal directly at the mine site, prior to downstream refining. The groundbreaking ceremony was officiated by Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad. Saarani said the project reflects continued confidence in Perak as a key hub for Malaysia’s mining and mineral processing industry. “By introducing additional pro cessing capabilities within the state, this investment enhances value creation from our natural WARRANTS WATCH

following its blockbuster IPO the prior week, closing off at a record high of RM2.37 for the week. Investors were seen trading warrants such as PCHEM-C1Z, DIALOG-C2S and SUNMED-CC which were top traded warrants for each of their respective underlyings. To view the full list of structured warrants available on Bursa Malaysia, visit malaysiawarrants.com.my. Provided for Malaysian residents’ information only. This commentary has not been reviewed by the Securities Commission Malaysia. It is not an offer or recommendation to trade and is not research material. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. You should make your own assessment and seek professional advice. The warrants will not be offered to any US persons. the value chain.” MSC operates under a strong environmental, social and gover nance framework, with ongoing initiatives to improve energy effi ciency and reduce environmental impact. At its Pulau Indah smelting facility, the group has already installed solar photovoltaic (PV) panels with a capacity of 1.26 megawatt-peak, supporting part of its energy requirements. Building on this foundation, MSC is exploring the installation of solar PV panels at the RHT site to support the energy needs of the rotary furnace and related pro cessing activities, with the aim of lowering overall energy intensity and carbon emissions.

MSC co-CEO Nicolas Chen Seong Lee said the rotary furnace at RHT strengthens the integration between the group’s mining and smelting operations. “By initiating the primary smelting process at the mine, we can streamline material flow, improve efficiency, and provide a more consistent feedstock to our Pulau Indah smelter for final refining.” Meanwhile, co-CEO Lam Hoi Khong said from a strategic stand point, this investment strengthens the group’s cost structure by reducing the need to transport non-value adding materials over long distances. “By shifting part of the processing upstream, we are able to optimise logistics, improve turnaround time, and enhance overall efficiency across

o RM10m facility at Rahman Hydraulic Tin mine in Klian Intan will enable on-site conversion of ore into crude metal, prior to downstream refining

and volume of material trans ported. This is expected to lower logistics costs, shorten lead times, and improve overall operational efficiency. Crude tin produced at RHT will continue to be transported to Pulau Indah for final refining into high-purity tin products for delivery to London Metal Exchange warehouses as well as industrial, electrical, and electronics cus tomers.

resources, supports local supply chains, and strengthens Perak’s position as a historic tin-pro ducing region,” he said. Currently, all tin ore produced from the RHT mine is transported about 400km to MSC’s smelting facility in Pulau Indah, Port Klang. The introduction of on-site processing allows the ore to be processed into crude tin at source, improving impurity content man agement and reducing the weight

Puts over US indices in limelight amid global market downturn

that Washington and Tehran had held “productive” discussions to end the US-Israel-Iran conflict. Risk sentiment improved after Trump said he would delay planned strikes on Iranian energy assets for five days, contingent on continued progress in negotiations. A relief rally ensued on Tuesday, although volatility persisted throughout the week amid Iran’s dismissal of Trump’s truce proposal as “excessive” and outlined its own conditions, while continuing attacks in the region. Towards the end of the week, Trump’s move failed to spark a rally for global markets. The HSI closed the 1.3% lower w o-w. Investors seemed to be more upwards biased as there were three call warrants among the top five most popular HSI warrants by value traded. In other markets, the SP500 and the Nasdaq-100 Index both declined

Top HSI warrants by value traded Warrant Value Issuer Exercise

Expiry date

name

(RM’mil)

level

HSI-CWOK HSI-PWPJ HSI-PWRD HSI-PWPM HSI-PWNG

61.2 53.1 27.6 13.9 10.5

Kenanga Kenanga Maybank Macquarie Maybank

27,000 24,000 29,000 23,000 25,000

29 April 2026 29 April 2026 29 June 2026 29 April 2026 29 April 2026

remained flattish from the previous week. Notable underlyings which investors traded warrants over included Petronas Chemicals (PCHEM), Dialog Group and Sunway Healthcare Holdings (SUNMED). PCHEM saw a 6% gain for the week, adding on to its gains of over 90% since the start of the US-Iran war. Alongside PCHEM, Dialog surged 14% for the week. SUNMED notched in a streak of positive days

to their 2026 lows within the trading week. Investors remained tactical, as seen from increased trading in these index warrants, with put warrant SP500-H63 notching in over 3.4 million units. With put warrants, investors may profit from the potential downtrend in a respective underlying, as the price of a put warrant increases as the value of the underlying it tracks decreases. On the local front, turnover in warrants over Malaysia stocks

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