Australia's largest steel company, BlueScope, wants to capitalise on some renewed buoyancy in the construction market locally as more people choose to build houses in regional centres and opt to renovate detached dwellings in city suburbs ahead of a bigger shift to work from home.

BlueScope on Monday kept its final dividend payout at the same level as a year ago even though bottomline profits tumbled as profit margins came under pressure in the United States where the group's North Star mill had been a star performer for the previous four years.