SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp and China’s BaoSteel Group have entered into an agreement to build a P108-billion integrated steel facility.
SteelAsia is the largest steel producer in the country; the Bao Group is the world’s largest.
The deal was signed by SteelAsia hairman and CEO Benjamin Yao and Baowu Group Zhongnan Iron & Steel Co. senior vice president Li Huaidong during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s three-day state visit to China early in January.
The facility will produce three million tons of liquid steel that can be converted into almost any finished steel product that can then feed and strengthen other industries such as the construction sector, automobile industry, appliances and ship building to name a few.
“This project will spawn new industries and wean the country from its perennial dependence on imports. It will generate about 2,000 jobs, including for for professionals who in the past have had to work abroad and leave their families,” Yao said.
Baowu will be fielding a team next month to jointly explore with SteelAsia a possible suitable location for this project.
SteelAsia operates six manufacturing plants in Bulacan, Batangas, Cebu, Davao and Misamis Oriental.
It is set to open it’s seventh plant this year in Compostela town in Cebu. This will increase its output from 2 million metric tons of steel annually to 3 million metric tons.
