The Board of Investment’s One-Stop Action Center for Strategic Investments (OSAC-SI) endorsed the 500,000-metric ton section mill project of SteelAsia Lemery Works Inc. in Lemery, Batangas for Green Lane approval.
Executive Order No. 18 establishes the green lane to expedite the processing and issuance of permits and licenses for projects identified as strategic investments.
The project, with an initial investment of P19.3 billion, is expected to start operation in July 2024, employing 600 personnel and workers from the local town and nearby areas.
BOI governor Marjorie Ramos-Samaniego, together with executive director Bobby Fondevilla and director Ernesto Delos Reyes Jr. led the awarding of the Green Lane Certificate of Endorsement to the officials of SteelAsia on Sept. 15, 2023.
The project is the greenfield design, erection and commissioning of the Philippines’ first sections of production: a state-of-the-art hot-rolling production line with an upstream integrated recycling-based steelmaking.
“Green Lane will be very helpful to the company. We consider it as a win’ for the country and we will convert this privilege into action,” said Benjamin Yao, chairman and CEO of SteelAsia.
SteelAsia’s project has an import-substitution strategy targeting the large and fast-growing domestic market for the sale of the mills’ output. The plant will manufacture using electric arc furnace (EAF) technology to refine steel which will be used to hot-roll steel sections such as H-beams, I-beams, I-channels, and unequal leg angle bars.
The presence of local manufacturers aims to lower the cost of construction, shorten construction periods and further spur growth in domestic construction. It will also give rise to ancillary industries, such as structural steel services including design, engineering, and built-up steel structures.