Analysis Report To Malaysia Import Aluminum Foil Laminated Materials for Cold Chain,Insulation,Refrigerator,Package at Malaysia Fair

Analysis Report on Malaysia's Import Demand for Chinese Aluminum Foil Composite Materials

By participating in the 2025 Malaysia International Import and Export Fair (MIECF), we entered the Malaysian aluminum foil composite materials market and gained a deeper understanding of Malaysia's import demand for Chinese aluminum foil composite materials, which ranks second in Southeast Asia.

1. Demand insight: The booming market is driven by clear factors. Malaysia is one of the most important markets for Chinese aluminum foil composite materials in Southeast Asia, with strong and sustained demand growth. The demand mainly comes from the thriving food and beverage industry, pharmaceutical packaging, and capacitor manufacturing industries in Malaysia. Malaysia, especially Johor and Penang, is an important manufacturing base in Southeast Asia. Aluminum foil laminated materials are mainly used for flexible packaging, and their demand is directly linked to downstream industries: the food and beverage industry: this is the largest demand area. Malaysia is an important food processing and exporting country (such as coffee, snacks, seasonings, ready to eat products), as well as a major producer and consumer of beverages (such as coffee, milk powder, functional drinks).

At this exhibition, there were some customers who specialize in food packaging and have bag making and sealing machines. They need our printed aluminum foil composite film to be processed into various food packaging bags; We do cold chain logistics, and they need our aluminum foil or VMPET composite EPE to make insulated inner bags for packaging their various frozen foods

2. Highly dependent on imports from China: China is the largest supplier of aluminum foil composite materials to Malaysia, with an absolute advantage in market share. In 2024, the bilateral trade volume between China and Malaysia reached 212.032 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 11.4%. The trend of import and demand growth is obvious. According to industry estimates in recent years, China may account for 60% -80% or even higher of Malaysia's total imports of this product.

Hangzhou Vwin has a complete industrial chain advantage and production equipment size advantage. We can accept OEM and ODM, and the products can be customized different type,weight,thickness,color,size with low MOQ and One-stop service, In order to meet the procurement needs of different customers, whether they are manufacturers, importers, or brand owners.

3. The competition between local production and imports:

(1) The scale and characteristics of local production in Malaysia, as well as the market competition situation, are as follows:

Malaysia does have some local aluminum foil composite material manufacturers, but overall, its industry scale and technological level have a significant gap compared to China. Famous manufacturers are mainly concentrated under several powerful enterprise groups.

San Soon Seng Group: This is a long-standing industrial conglomerate in Malaysia, with its subsidiary Seng Fong Holdings Berhad being a major producer of nitrile gloves and latex products in Southeast Asia. The group is also involved in the packaging field and has the ability to produce aluminum foil composite materials, mainly used for its own glove packaging and other industrial packaging.  

KPJ Healthcare Berhad: As one of Malaysia's largest private healthcare groups, its affiliated companies or supply chain departments may be involved in medical product packaging, including aluminum foil composite materials (such as drug blister packaging). But they are more users than core manufacturers.  

Some small and medium-sized professional packaging factories: There are many small and medium-sized enterprises in Malaysia that specialize in producing aluminum foil composite packaging in specific fields, such as food packaging bags, snack packaging, etc. These companies are usually smaller in scale, with technical capabilities focused on composite and bag making, rather than upstream aluminum foil rolling and high-performance material research and development.  

An important characteristic is that many "producers" operating in Malaysia are actually subsidiaries or joint ventures of international giants or large Chinese enterprises. For example, Chinese companies such as "Dingsheng New Materials" and "Yunlv Shares" may not necessarily set up factories directly in Malaysia, but they will sell through strong distributors and trade networks. Global packaging giants like Amcor have production bases in Malaysia, but their technology and raw material supply chains are globalized.

(2) Why do they import various aluminum foil composite materials from China?  

This is determined by the division of labor in the global industrial chain and their respective comparative advantages. The main reasons why Malaysian manufacturers import from China are as follows:

① Scale effect and cost advantage (core reasons):

Raw material costs: China has a complete aluminum industry chain, from bauxite, alumina, electrolytic aluminum to aluminum rolling, with a huge scale, making the production cost of basic aluminum foil highly competitive.  

Production cost: The comprehensive advantages of scale effect, energy cost, and labor cost in China's manufacturing industry are obvious, which makes the final price of aluminum foil composite materials much lower than local production in Malaysia.  

② Complete product range and fast supply chain response:

One stop procurement: There are numerous aluminum foil composite material manufacturers in China, providing almost all types of products, from the most common aluminum foil composite film for food packaging to high-end lithium battery soft packaging aluminum-plastic film, pharmaceutical blister packaging materials, high-temperature steaming bag materials, etc. Malaysian buyers can find all the required specifications and models in China, achieving "one-stop procurement".  

Flexible production: Chinese factories are generally able to accept small and multi batch orders, with flexible supply and relatively guaranteed delivery times.  

③ Technical gap and special performance requirements:

High end product dependence: For some high-performance composite materials (such as aluminum-plastic films used in power batteries), their technical barriers are very high. Currently, the global market is mainly dominated by Japan (DNP, Showa Polymer) and top Chinese companies (such as Xinlun New Materials, Mingguan New Materials, etc.). Local manufacturers in Malaysia do not yet have the research and production capabilities for such high-end products, and must import them from abroad. Chinese products are the most cost-effective choice.  

Consistency requirement: In high-end fields such as medicine and electronics, there are extremely high requirements for the consistency, stability, and cleanliness of material properties. China's leading aluminum foil manufacturers have reached the international advanced level in these areas and are able to meet strict standards.  

④ Incomplete local industrial chain:

Malaysia lacks upstream high-precision aluminum rolling capacity. Many local "manufacturers" are essentially "composite material processors" who need to import basic aluminum foil raw materials from abroad (mainly China) and then carry out subsequent processing such as lamination, coating, and slitting with plastic films (such as CPP, PE, PET) locally. Therefore, imports are an inevitable link in the industrial chain.

(3) How is the competition between them and Chinese aluminum foil composite material manufacturers?   The relationship between Malaysian local producers and Chinese producers is more about "complementarity and cooperation" than "direct competition", but there is also competition in specific fields. 

① Complementary and cooperative (mainstream relationship): Upstream and downstream relationships in the industrial chain: As mentioned above, many Malaysian manufacturers are buyers of Chinese basic aluminum foil or semi-finished materials, and they process them locally to serve the Southeast Asian regional market. This is a typical division of labor in the industrial chain.   Market regional differentiation: The advantage of Chinese manufacturers lies in their large scale, low cost, and full range of products, focusing on the global market. The advantages of Malaysian manufacturers lie in their geographical proximity, understanding of local customer needs, providing fast service, and flexible small order support. They are more focused on serving small and medium-sized customers in Malaysia and neighboring Southeast Asian countries.   Joint ventures and technical support: Some strong Chinese companies may establish joint ventures with Malaysian enterprises, with the Chinese side providing technology, raw materials, and equipment, and the Malaysian side responsible for localized production and market channels. 

 ② Direct competitive relationship (in specific fields): Mid to low end market: In the fields of ordinary food packaging and industrial packaging with low technological barriers, Chinese materials are directly exported to Malaysia with huge price advantages, forming fierce competition with similar products produced locally in Malaysia. Local manufacturers in Malaysia are usually at a disadvantage in terms of price.   Local customer competition: For large local customers in Malaysia (such as well-known food brands and multinational electronics factories' subsidiaries in Malaysia), Chinese aluminum foil material manufacturers may directly participate in bidding through their international sales network or local distributors to compete for orders with local Malaysian manufacturers. 

③ Third party market competition: In other Southeast Asian markets such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, Chinese aluminum foil materials and Malaysian processed aluminum foil materials will appear simultaneously, forming a competitive relationship. Chinese products have price and category advantages, while Malaysian products may have geographical and tariff (within ASEAN) advantages.   Overall, Malaysia's aluminum foil composite materials industry is located in the middle and lower reaches of the global industrial chain. Their import of basic materials from China is a rational choice under economic globalization and comparative advantage. The relationship between the two parties presents a complex and multi-level nature: in high-end materials, it is a purely import dependent relationship; There is an upstream downstream cooperative relationship in the industrial chain; In the mid to low end market facing Southeast Asia, there exists a certain degree of indirect or direct competition. With the continuous development of China's aluminum foil industry towards high-end, this "complementary+competitive" pattern will exist for a long time.

Our product range and applications are diverse,they are being exported to some supermarket (Such as Seven 11),manufacturer,distributor,wholesales.