THE Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the Development Bank of the Philippines, and the Philippine Business Bank have agreed to lend SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp. a combined P8.3 billion to help complete a steel mill in Batangas.
Projected to cost P18.3 billion, SteelAsia’s P18.3-billion steel section mill, the country’s first, will rise in Lemery, and will start production of beams and bars next year.
Benjamin Yao, SteelAsia chairman and chief executive officer, said that the Lemery Section Mill loan will help develop the steel industry.
“It will be fully commissioned in 2025 and will (compete with) imported steel section products like H beams, I beams, and angle bars that are used for infrastructure like bridges, railways, high-rises, industrial buildings, telco towers, and transmission towers,” Mr. Yao said in a statement.
Mr. Yao said developing the steel industry holds the potential to bring construction costs down and create new manufacturing industries and thousands of jobs.
“We invest in infrastructure projects that not only drive economic growth and ensure stability but also provide long-term sustainable returns. The SteelAsia plant is a prime example of such an investment,” GSIS President and General Manager Jose Arnulfo Veloso said.
“By enhancing our country’s manufacturing capabilities, this project sets the stage for increased domestic production and economic resilience. It addresses our need to reduce dependency on imported steel, which in turn helps balance our trade and keeps more capital within the Philippines,” he added.
The Philippines imports 80% of its steel requirements, excluding reinforcing bars or rebar. In 2022, the Philippines imported $5.25 billion worth of steel.
The Lemery Section Mill will be SteelAsia’s seventh plant in the Philippines. It operates steelmaking, rebar manufacturing, and rebar fabrication plants in Bulacan, Batangas, Cebu, and Davao.
In 2022, the company embarked on a five-year development plan to build the Philippine steel industry, of which the Lemery Section Mill is a component. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
