Gurun Heavy Industrial Park: land sales, prices and tenants

Gurun Heavy Industrial Park is a private industrial park being carved out of about 437 acres of freehold land in Gurun, in the Kuala Muda district of Kedah: the site of Kinsteel's Perfect Channel steel mill, idle since a fire in May 2019. Ann Joo Resources Bhd bought the land company in 2023–2025, and in December 2025 teamed up with developer Transyear Sdn Bhd to sell it in large plots to Chinese manufacturers. Two have bought so far: titanium dioxide maker LB Group and battery-materials maker Putailai. This page is our standing record of the park (the land, the owners, every plot sale with its price per square foot, and the history) and is updated each time a plot sells or a plant moves. The history at the bottom links every step to its source.

As of 25 September 2026

• Sold: two plots, 122.5 acres, for RM237.4 million, an average of RM44.49 psf
• Plot 7 (60.1 acres, Lot 8072): LB Group, RM117.8 million, RM45 psf. LB announced on 24 September 2026 that it has started building a RM1 billion titanium dioxide plant
• Plot 5 (62.4 acres, Lot 8071): Putailai's Zichen Malaysia, RM119.6 million, RM44 psf, for a planned US$297 million, 50,000-tonne-a-year battery anode plant
• Announced investment on the two plots: about RM2.2 billion
• Left to sell in the joint venture: about 135 acres of its 257.7 acres: 36.8 acres on Lot 8072 and 98.5 acres on Lot 8071, before roads and drains are taken out
• Tenure: the master titles are freehold; buyers receive 99-year leasehold subdivided titles
• Infrastructure: a 275kV main intake substation on the land; roads, drainage, water and telecoms to both sold plots due by March 2027
• Next: completion of the Plot 7 sale by about June 2027; the joint venture's 30-month term runs to June 2028, extendable by 30 months

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The land

The joint venture covers two freehold industrial titles in Bandar Gurun, Daerah Kuala Muda, Kedah, both registered to Gurun Heavy Industrial Park Sdn Bhd (GHIP):

• Phase 1A, Hakmilik Geran 67225, Lot 8072: 392,000 sq m (96.87 acres). Plot 7 (60.1 acres) sold to LB Group, leaving about 36.8 acres of the phase
• Phase 1B, Hakmilik Geran 67221, Lot 8071: about 160.87 acres of development land, according to Ann Joo's June 2026 filing (its December 2025 filing described the Phase 1B portion of this title as about 445,896 sq m, or 110.2 acres). Plot 5 (62.4 acres) sold to Putailai, leaving about 98.5 acres

The rest of the roughly 437 acres, about 179 acres including the old steel plant at Lot 8068 on Jalan Bedong, sits outside the joint venture; Ann Joo's 2025 annual report still lists the whole 436.84 acres under the older Lots 8067, 8068 and 8070. When Ann Joo took full control in February 2025 it highlighted a 275kV main intake substation on the land, and it priced both 2026 sales on "the availability of electricity, water, gas, sunlight (for potential solar generation) and land infrastructure" rather than on comparable land sales. Savills valued GHIP's parcels together on 10 November 2025 by the cost approach; no separate valuation was done for either plot. Gurun lies on the North–South Expressway and the KTM line between Bedong and Guar Chempedak, under the Sungai Petani municipal council.

How Ann Joo came to own it

GHIP is the renamed Perfect Channel Sdn Bhd, incorporated on 16 December 2005. Kinsteel Bhd took 51% of it in 2006 and ran a steel plant in Gurun making wire rods, billets and wire products until a fire in May 2019 stopped production. In 2020 Kinsteel planned a 500,000-tonne electric arc furnace there with China's Tianjin Qiangbang; no progress was ever reported, and Kinsteel went into liquidation.

On 21 June 2023 Konsortia Etiqa Sdn Bhd, then 55% owned by Ann Joo, bought 51% of Perfect Channel from the liquidated Kinsteel for RM10 million and subscribed for 100 million new shares for RM100,000, taking 99.9%. It bought a company with 436.8 acres of industrial land, negative shareholders' funds of RM122 million at the end of 2022, and income only from letting out its buildings. On 4 February 2025 Ann Joo paid Datuk Ong Tee Thong RM96 million for the other 45% of Konsortia Etiqa. Ann Joo puts its total cost for 99.99% of GHIP at RM106.1 million.

Ann Joo has since left steelmaking. On 11 September 2026 it completed the RM290 million sale of Ann Joo Steel, its Prai mill, to Green Esteel (our report). The Gurun land stays with the group and has become a source of cash: Ann Joo has earmarked its share of both plot sales for repaying loans and for working capital.

The joint venture with Transyear

On 15 December 2025 GHIP signed two joint-venture agreements with Transyear Sdn Bhd, a company of the Ch'ng family's Oriental Max group, which Ann Joo describes as a developer and marketer of property in the northern region. The terms:

• Who does what: Transyear surrenders and re-alienates, subdivides, and builds roads, drains, culverts and utilities at its own cost; GHIP stays the registered owner and grants Transyear a limited power of attorney
• Who it can sell to: Transyear has the exclusive right to market plots to buyers from the People's Republic of China, except data-centre and steel businesses
• The split: GHIP receives RM25 psf of net sellable land from each plot Transyear sells (a rate to be agreed for plots under 10 acres) and Transyear keeps the rest; where GHIP sells a plot itself, it keeps the whole price
• Security: a corporate guarantee from Oriental Max Sdn Bhd and personal guarantees from Ch'ng Chiap Kang, Ch'ng Dickeon and Ch'ng Dickson
• Term: 30 months, extendable by another 30
• Ann Joo's sums: total cost to GHIP, including land, about RM82.2 million; gross proceeds expected to exceed RM203 million

Land sales log

Newest first. One line per plot, with the filing.

• 10 June 2026 — Plot 5, 62.395 acres (Lot 8071), RM119,588,000, RM44 psf. Buyer Zichen Malaysia Sdn Bhd, incorporated 23 September 2025, owned by Putailai (Singapore) Pte Ltd and ultimately by Shanghai Putailai New Energy Technology. 20% deposit paid; the balance is tied to planning permission, roads and utilities, the subdivided title and state consent; 99-year leasehold title. GHIP's share RM69.2 million; book value RM25.5 million. Ann Joo filing · reply to Bursa
• 10 March 2026 — Plot 7, 60.1 acres (Lot 8072), RM117,808,020, RM45 psf. Buyer LB Advanced Material Asia Sdn Bhd, incorporated 17 September 2025, 100% owned by LB Group's Billions (Hong Kong) Corporation. 20% deposit; 60% released as earthworks, water and telecoms, and roads and drainage reach the plot; 20% on the subdivided title, section 433B consent and delivery of the title. GHIP's share RM65.4 million; book value RM23.8 million; estimated gain RM40.4 million; completion due within 15 months. Ann Joo filing · reply to Bursa

The occupiers

LB Group, Plot 7. The Chinese titanium dioxide maker (Shenzhen: 002601) announced on 24 September 2026 that construction has started: RM1 billion in total, RM600 million in phase 1, 300,000 tonnes a year when complete, more than 300 skilled jobs. Its reasons for Malaysia, and who it is, are in our report.

Putailai, Plot 5. Shanghai Putailai New Energy Technology (Shanghai: 603659) is a leading Chinese maker of artificial-graphite anode material for lithium-ion batteries. On 11 March 2026 its board approved a plant making 50,000 tonnes of anode material a year at the "Gurun Industrial Park", costing no more than US$297 million (about RMB2.05 billion), paid from its own funds and built over 24 months, subject to Chinese outbound-investment approvals. It is Putailai's second attempt at an overseas anode plant: Sweden refused its 100,000-tonne project, which it dropped at the end of 2024.

The numbers

• Price per square foot: Plot 7, RM117.8m ÷ 2.618 million sq ft = RM45.00; Plot 5, RM119.6m ÷ 2.718 million sq ft = RM44.00; together RM237.4m for 122.5 acres = RM44.49 psf, or about RM1.94 million an acre
• The split: of Plot 7's RM45 psf, GHIP keeps RM25 and Transyear RM20; on Plot 5, RM25 and about RM19
• Against book value: Plot 7 was carried at RM23.8m (RM9.07 psf) and Plot 5 at RM25.5m (RM9.38 psf), so the sale prices are 4.7 to 5.0 times book, and GHIP's own share alone about 2.7 times
• Against what Ann Joo paid: RM106.1 million for the company holding 436.8 acres is about RM243,000 an acre, or RM5.58 psf. That is an equity price for a company that came with negative shareholders' funds, not a land valuation, but it shows how far the two sales have re-rated the land
• Against the market: TA Securities put typical industrial land at RM25 to RM40 psf in February 2025; RM45 is 12.5% above the top of that range
• What is left: the joint venture covers about 257.7 acres (96.87 on Lot 8072 plus 160.87 on Lot 8071). The two plots took 122.5 acres (47.5%), leaving about 135.2 acres (36.8 on Lot 8072 and 98.5 on Lot 8071) before roads and drains. Outside the joint venture lie about 179 acres of the 437, including the old mill
• Investment density: LB's RM1 billion is about RM16.6 million per acre; Putailai's US$297 million, about RM1.21 billion at the RM4.08 per dollar implied by LB's "RM1 billion = US$245 million", is about RM19.4 million per acre

What it means for industrial property

Gurun is testing a different kind of northern industrial land: very large plots with power, water and gas already on site, sold to Chinese chemical and battery-materials makers who need utilities more than a Penang address. Two sales in three months at RM44–45 psf, about RM2.2 billion of plants to follow, and a developer with the exclusive right to keep marketing to Chinese buyers point to more plots moving before the joint venture's term ends in 2028. The phased builds, LB's RM600 million first phase and Putailai's 24-month construction, mean demand for contractors, suppliers, warehousing and ancillary space around Gurun and Sungai Petani over several years. For buyers, the terms to watch are the 99-year leasehold titles and the section 433B state consent.

History

Newest first. Each line links to its source, and to our own post where we have one.

• 24 September 2026 — LB Group starts building its RM1 billion titanium dioxide plant on Plot 7; phase 1 RM600 million; 300,000 tonnes a year; more than 300 jobs. Our report · FMT, 24 September 2026
• 11 September 2026 — Ann Joo completes the RM290 million sale of Ann Joo Steel to Green Esteel; the Gurun land stays in the group. Our report
• 10 June 2026 — Plot 5, 62.4 acres, sold to Putailai's Zichen Malaysia for RM119.6 million (RM44 psf). Ann Joo filing · The Edge, 10 June 2026
• 11 March 2026 — Putailai approves its US$297 million, 50,000-tonne anode plant in Gurun. Putailai filing (Chinese, PDF)
• 10 March 2026 — Plot 7, 60.1 acres, sold to LB Advanced Material Asia for RM117.8 million (RM45 psf). Ann Joo filing · The Edge, 11 March 2026
• 15 December 2025 — GHIP and Transyear sign the joint venture: Phase 1A (96.87 acres) and Phase 1B; RM25 psf to GHIP; Chinese buyers only, no steel or data centres. Ann Joo filing · clarification
• 10 November 2025 — Savills values GHIP's parcels by the cost approach. Ann Joo reply to Bursa
• 15 October 2025 — LB Group's board approves setting up LB Advanced Material Asia through its Hong Kong arm. LB Group filing (Chinese)
• 17 and 23 September 2025 — LB Advanced Material Asia and Zichen Malaysia are incorporated. Plot 7 filing · Plot 5 filing
• 4 February 2025 — Ann Joo buys the last 45% of Konsortia Etiqa for RM96 million; 437 acres with a 275kV substation. TA Securities calls the land undervalued. The Edge, 4 February 2025 · The Edge, 5 February 2025
• 21 June 2023 — Konsortia Etiqa buys 99.9% of Perfect Channel from the liquidated Kinsteel for RM10.1 million; 436.8 acres. The Edge, 21 June 2023
• April 2020 — Kinsteel plans a 500,000-tonne electric arc furnace with Tianjin Qiangbang; no progress reported. Global Energy Monitor
• May 2019 — Fire halts the Perfect Channel steel plant. The Edge, 21 June 2023
• 2005–2006 — Perfect Channel Sdn Bhd is incorporated (16 December 2005); Kinsteel takes 51% in 2006. Global Energy Monitor

Update log

• 25 September 2026 — Page created. Baseline: two plots sold (122.5 acres, RM237.4 million), LB Group's construction start, Putailai's plan, the joint-venture terms.

Cover: timeline graphic, industrialandland.com.my. Map: EPIQ, via EdgeProp. This page is updated in place; see the update log for what changed and when.