Philippines’ flagship steel company SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp. has shipped over 36,000 metric tons of high-strength steel bars used in infrastructure construction in Canada.
“We have broken through the First World market where quality and performance standards are the highest. We have invested in the best available technology to produce the highest quality steel products and these shipments are our initial reward, and a validation of our reliability and capability,” said SteelAsia chairman and chief executive Benjamin Yao.
SteelAsia’s fifth shipment brought total exports to about $24 million or P1.32 billion.
Yao said the steel bars were produced using green steel production methods.
SteelAsia has been using geothermal energy to recycle steel scrap into high-value, infrastructure-grade steel bars. This technology not only supports the Philippines’ infrastructure program but also promotes sustainability in steel production.
Yao’s vision is for the Philippines to have its own integrated steel industry that is capable of supporting big industries like automobile, airplane and ships manufacturing, appliances production as well as the construction and housing sectors.
The Philippines imports most of its steel needs, sapping the country’s dollars and surrendering employment opportunities to the other countries.
“In the Philippines, we export our resources such as steel scrap and iron ore, then import back finished steel products. This is a tragedy because the value and the jobs are created in another country and, in the meantime, the Philippines is import-dependent. We need job creation here, and that’s what having our own steel industry does,” Yao said.
He said the solution is to invest in state-of-the-art steel mills. The company has lined up investment in new plants, on top of its existing ones scattered all over the archipelago, each one a state-of-the-art steel plant.
SteelAsia is the largest rebar manufacturer in Southeast Asia and operates three steel mills in Luzon, two in the Visayas and one in Mindanao.