Group vows to hike test-buy ops vs rogue steel makers, retailers
THE Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (Pisi) has vowed to multiply test buy operations to report manufacturers and retailers slipping in substandard steel in the market by exploiting quarantine restrictions.
Joel T. Ronquillo, vice president for technical affairs at Pisi, relayed to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) the sale of substandard rebars in hardware stores in Central Luzon. Further, he alleged the products were made by Real Steel Corp. and Metrodragon Steel Corp., both of which are known to use induction furnace for steelmaking.
Pisi President Ronald C. Magsajo added the group discovered in its test buys the prevalence of unmarked rebars, whose manufacturers cannot be identified, traced and sanctioned in case of emergency, such as the collapse of a structure.
Magsajo said the Pisi will intensify its test buy operations to expose firms and retailers selling substandard steel to unsuspecting buyers. Likewise, he committed the group will work with the DTI in enforcing laws on product standards.
“Some manufacturers and traders are taking advantage of quarantine restrictions and [they are] taking shortcuts that ultimately will harm the enduser,” he said in a statement last week.
According to Pisi, samples from the test buys were sent to the Bureau of Philippine Standards. The agency then sent them to the Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC), of the Department of Science and Technology, for quality and safety evaluation.
Citing MIRDC’S findings, Pisi argued the lug height and mass variation of the samples failed to conform with what the government requires to guarantee the integrity of a rebar.
Magsajo explained the sale of substandard steel not only puts consumers at risk, it also dupes them in terms of value for their money. For instance, low mass variation is like asking a buyer to pay for a 900 gram rebar for the price of 1 kilo, he explained.
Magsajo admitted the market for construction materials, including steel products, declined this year, as the quarantine slowed infrastructure activity from both public and private sectors.
Manufacturers then were left scrambling for whatever remains of the demand, which some are abusing by flooding the market with cheap yet substandard steel, the Pisi chief said. He added most producers of these items are repeat violators.
In June the Pisi submitted to MIRDC rebar samples bought in Central Luzon stores and made by Valenzuela-based Real Steel and Bulacan-based Philippine Koktai Metal Inc.
According to Magsajo, the MIRD cruled the samples as lacking weight. As such, the steel bars may fail to support structure sunder stress, breaking the standards set out by the government, he pointed out.
Real Steel, Metrodragon and Philippine Koktai use induction furnace in making steel products, and for this reason the Pisi has been asking the government to penalize their operations.
Induction furnace is designed to manufacture cast products and not construction grade steel. It has no capacity to remove the impurities of scrap metal, particularly phosphorus and sulfur, both of which brittles the output steel and exposes it to crack injury.
In 2017 China banned the use of induction furnace for steelmaking, ruling the equipment harms the environment and produces substandard rebars.