Brothers Behind Southeast Asia’s Largest Aluminum Smelter Are Now Malaysia’s Second-Richest
This story is part of Forbes’ coverage of Malaysia’s Richest 2026. See the full list here.
Robust aluminum prices, driven by demand from hot sectors such as EVs and AI data centers, gave a 73% boost to shares of Kuala Lumpur-listed Press Metal Aluminium Holdings since fortunes were last measured. Koon Poh Keong and his four siblings, who together control the company, are the biggest dollar gainers this year. They added $4.3 billion to their wealth and jumped to the No. 2 spot for the first time.
Press Metal, which is Southeast Asia’s largest aluminum smelter, with annual capacity exceeding one million tons, reported a 19% jump in net profit to a record 2.1 billion ringgit ($520 million), on an 8.7% rise in revenue to around 16 billion ringgit in 2025. Analyst Iftaar Hakim Rusli of Kuala Lumpur-based RHB Research maintains a “buy” rating on the company’s shares in a February report and foresees the fundamentals staying strong this year as well.
Despite global uncertainties, the brothers, who have executive roles at Press Metal with the eldest, Poh Keong, as group CEO, are pushing ahead with expansion. Last June they broke ground on a $750 million alumina refinery in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province. The plant, which is 80%-owned by Press Metal, is expected to start operations next year.
