Steel Asia’s P30 billion Quezon plant to start operations in 2 years

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s flagship steel manufacturer expects to start the commercial operations of its P30 billion plant in Candelaria, Quezon by 2027.

In a statement, SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp. said it awarded the engineering, procurement and construction management contract for the plant in Quezon to MCC Huatian Engineering & Technology Co. Ltd.

MCC Huatian is a global leader in building steel plants, having built over 230 steel plants with a total installed capacity of over 200 million tons in 14 countries.

SteelAsia’s plant in Quezon, which will begin commercial operations in 2027, will be using the latest European steel technology.

The plant is expected to produce over one million tons of structural steel such as H beams, I beams, angles, channels, sheet piles, plates and other heavy profiles.

“We will create around 7,000 jobs instead of giving jobs to China, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea and Japan, our major suppliers,” SteelAsia chairman and CEO Benjamin Yao said.

He also said the carbon footprint will be 90 percent lower than the traditional steelmaking process, citing the use of recycled scrap metal and electric arc furnace technology.

Once the plant is in operation, he said delivery lead items to projects would also improve from three to four months for imports to one to two weeks.

SteelAsia expects the plant to benefit the country through $1.2 billion in savings annually.

“This is a game changer initially for the construction and infrastructure sector since this means quicker project completion and lower costs,” Yao said.

The company is aiming to build the country’s first integrated steel industry. .

“In steel manufacturing, we cannot compromise on technology and know-how because we are committed to producing the best steel products,” Yao said.

Aside from the plant in Quezon, SteelAsia is also putting up four other plants in the country.

In particular, SteelAsia expects to complete plants in Batangas and Davao by next year.

The company also expects two plants in Tarlac to be completed in 2027.