Largest PH steel facility in Cebu to start operations by June

THE Philippines’ largest steel mill produced its first reinforced steel bars as it entered the final phases of commissioning before starting commercial operations by June this year, SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp. said Friday.

“This is another major step for our country to be self-sufficient for our steel needs—a goal SteelAsia is committed to pursue. Every single country in the region is self-reliant and the Philippines should not be left behind to depend only on imports,” said SteelAsia chairman and chief executive Benjamin Yao.

The steel mill in Compostela, Cebu will produce 1 million tons of highstrength rebars annually. It uses the latest available technology, making it the country’s most efficient and environment-friendly steel facility.

SteelAsia said with this additional capacity, on top of 6 other mills located all over the country, it would have a total capacity of 3 million tons annually, making it the largest producer of rebars in Southeast Asia.

The Development Bank of the Philippines funded the project with P5.7 billion in long-term loans. SteelAsia and DBP signed the loan agreement in June 2020, and construction was completed in 30 months despite the global pandemic and supply chain disruptions.

Steel Asia has been investing heavily in manufacturing plants to ramp up local capacity to make the nation less dependent on imports.

The Compostela mill will also produce welded reinforcing mesh—the first such facility in the Visayas and Mindanao.

“This will ensure adequate highquality and economical steel supply for housing and infrastructure development,” said Yao.

He said the mill would expand SteelAsia’s capacity to serve different regions, giving builders the benefits of localized product availability, lower logistics cost and a faster response time.

Yao inspected the mill and met with the Italian engineers from Danieli & C. S.p.A., the mill’s design and equipment supplier, to commend them on the mill’s commissioning.

The Compostela plant, once fully operational, will create 500 direct and 2,500 indirect jobs.