DMCI completes P900-M steel fabrication plant

MANILA, Philippines - D.M. Consunji Inc. has invested P900-million for a steel fabrication plant seen to support the robust construction activities in the country.

The construction arm of the Consunji family said it has completed recently a state-of-the-art steel plant in Calaca, Batangas capable of fabricating heavy steel sections for power plants, infrastructure and steel vertical structures.

DMCI president Jorge Consunji said the plant has a capacity of 2,000 to 3,000 tons a month and uses machine tool technology from globally acknowledged suppliers for structural steel and plate fabrication.

“The idea to set up a steel fabrication facility came about in April 2013. We did market and business case studies for a couple of months before breaking ground in November 2014,” Consunji said.

“Right now, we are completing the ancillary building structures while our fabrication operations are ongoing,” he added.

Consunji said the facility currently supplies the requirements of the DMCI Group but plans are underway to secure sales contracts with other industrial and construction companies.

“We put this up in anticipation of the growth of the country’s PPP infrastructure projects,” he said.

Since it began operations, the steel fabrication plant has generated employment for over 240 people, most of whom are from Batangas, DMCI said.

The firm said the last known high capacity steel fabrication plant in the Philippines was established way back in the 1980s.

DMCI’s net income rose 35 percent last year to P628 million from P464 million in 2014 on the back of better gross profit margins from ongoing projects.