PETALING JAYA: The steel market is expected to trend upward this year, according to a report by consultancy company operating in the steel sector worldwide, MEPS (International) Ltd.

The latest business in the US has been settled at marginally higher transaction values than in February. Producers are pressing for further increases next month, citing their growing input expenditure.

PETALING JAYA: Singapore-based real estate capital management company, Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd has acquired an industrial property, the IXINAL Monzen-Nakacho, from ITOCHU Corp and ITOCHU Property Development in Tokyo, Japan.

HONG KONG: Moody's Investors Service is maintaining its stable outlook for China property developers over the next 12 months and says that while prices will decline, the market is not overly inflated.Moody's vice president and senior credit officer Peter Choy said on Monday, March 29 that currently, numerous factors -- many at opposing ends of the spectrum -- are at play on the China real estat

BEIJING: China is speeding up the process of launching a property tax, a director of the Ministry of Land and Resources said on March 29.

The official, at a briefing for reporters, stopped short of saying that a tax would be introduced.

Debate on the merits of a tax, which would be levied annually on the value of a property, has intensified in recent months.

KUALA LUMPUR: Lembaga Tabung Haji expects to invest more in real estate in Mecca and Madinah in the next one to two years in its move to keep the cost of Hajj performance at affordable rates.

Its Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Ismee Ismail, said the group has been seriously looking at investment opportunities there since 2008.

PETALING JAYA: S P Setia Bhd has acquired a 46,715 sq ft piece of land in Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD) for RM92.4 million on March 29.

WELLINGTON: Australia’s market for residential mortgage-backed securities is becoming a cheaper source of funding for institutions lending to the housing market, according to Treasurer Wayne Swan.

IJM Land Bhd
(March 26, RM2.30)

KUALA LUMPUR: Kumpulan Europlus Bhd (KEuro), which is 25%-owned by IJM Corp Bhd, has continued the disposal of its shares in Talam Corp Bhd.

According to its latest filings to Bursa Malaysia Securities, KEuro sold off 2.33 million shares on March 9 and 10, 2010, thereby reducing its stake in Talam to 26.52%.

KUALA LUMPUR: After a sluggish first quarter, a likely pick-up in large-scale projects in the second half (2H) and improving margins may invite earnings upgrades and better recommendations for construction counters.

The latest upgrade in the industry was perhaps that for IJM Corp Bhd, the nation’s largest builder in terms of market capitalisation.