New steel plant inaugurated in Compostela

CEBU, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. encouraged everyone to work with the government in addressing the remaining supply chain gaps in the steel industry in order to support our social and economic growth.

This as Marcos led the inauguration of Compostela Works, the newest steel plant of SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp. (SAMC), located in barangay Poblacion in Compostela, Cebu, yesterday.

“I invite all stakeholders to pursue more investments aimed at reducing, if not eliminating, the limited raw materials situation. We certainly recognize that much needs to be done (toward) achieving a reliable supply chain that will give birth to a new and integrated manufacturing (industries),” he said in his speech

Marcos added that we are now in the era of a Bagong Pilipinas.

“Just like steel, we Filipinos are innately strong, resilient, and indomitable. So, let us work together for a more globally-competitive, prosperous, innovative, and empowered Bagong Pilipinas,” he said.

The Compostela Works facility is the largest and newest steel mill in the country, with an annual production capacity of one million metric tons.

It is expected to provide the much-needed rebar requirements for infrastructure, including bridges, roads, air/sea ports, flood control and other critical and large-scale building works in the Visayas and Mindanao. It is also among the most modern in the world, engineered and supplied by world leaders in steel manufacturing technologies, Daniel of Italy and Fives of France.

The Compostela Works was funded by a ?5.7-billion DBP Project Finance Loan and is the first in a four-year pipeline of projects amounting to ?80 billion to build a Philippine steel industry.

SAMC is a Philippine-owned company that manufactures rebar and provides downstream rebar solutions, including rebar detailing, cut-and-bend, reinforcing mesh and rebar threading and coupling.

After its original mill in Quezon City in 1965 was decommissioned, it established mills in Meycauayan, Bulacan; Calaca, Batangas; Carcar, Cebu; and Davao City.

It can produce three million tons of rebar per year and employs over 3,000 personnel in its six steel plants.

Sean Andre Sy President and Chief Operating Officer said the new plant is a significant step in their mission to champion the creation of country's steel industry.

He said their Batangas mill has an Electric Arc Furnace attached to it. It melts steel, then refines it to create specific chemistries.

“This capability allows us to recycle Filipino scrap converting it into high-grade infrastructure rebars that are today being installed in both the Manila and Vancouver subway systems,” he said.

Sy added that their future projects are all about import substitution and they will put up two section mills, one in Lemery, Batangas, and another in Candelaria, Quezon; to produce 1.3 million tons of I-beams, sheet piles, and large angle bars for transmission towers and cellphone towers.

Building a Philippine steel industry was the vision of SteelAsia CEO Benjamin Yao, the Ernst and Young Philippines 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year. Yao has also been a two-time finalist for the S&P Platts Global Steel Awards in London for CEO of the Year and Industry Leadership.

Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia, Compostela Mayor Felijur Quiño, Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Secretary Frederick Go, and Development Bank of the Philippines Chairman Philip Lo also attended the ceremony. — (FREEMAN)