Local steel firm scores breakthrough in international mart

A wholly owned Philippine company specializing in the manufacture of cold rolled coils, galvanized and prepainted steel coils and sheets has attained a major breakthrough in the international market for its top-of-the-line Galvalume 55.

Steel Corp. of the Philippines (Steelcorp), an affiliate of Philsteel Holdings Corp., said it has successfully penetrated the markets in China, the United States, the trust territories of Guam and Saipan and most recently, Vietnam.

Starting with trial orders of several hundred tons for China’s appliance manufacturers and profiled roofing sheets and housing steel frames to Guam and Saipan housing industry, Steelcorp is set to regularly export commercial quantities to Vietnam beginning next month.

"Our shipment next month of the first 1,000 metric tons (MT) of Galvalume 55 is only the start of our regular monthly commercial export to that country," Angel Arias, Philsteel Holdings vice president for logistics revealed.

"Serious inquiries from the US mainland, Chile and Australia for bigger monthly volumes are now being finalized and by the year 2003, we see at least 20 percent of Steelcorp’s capacity earmarked for exports," Arias said.

Steelcorp is the exclusive manufacturer of Galvalume 55 in the Philippines. Arias described the product as a "world-renowned and superior coated steel product that is three to six times more durable than ordinary GI sheets. At present, Steelcorp runs the fastest Galvalume line in the world as cited by BIEC International, the exclusive licensing entity of Galvalume technology in the world.

"Turning out 250 meters per minute of Galvalume 55 should pose no problem insofar as supplying both the international and local markets is concerned," Arias added.

Steelcorp chairman Abeto Uy said they have decided to fully support their export thrust and committed to allocate 20 percent to 30 percent of the plant’s monthly output to this endeavor. In his meeting with principals of five major international steel traders, Uy pledged that Steelcorp will enter into long-term export agreements with them if only to ensure the steady supply of Galvalume 55 in their respective markets.

"Not only should we help in filling the supply of Galvalume in the world, we see this as a big opportunity to bring in much needed dollars to support the turnaround of the national economy, thus narrow our balance of payment gap," Uy said.