Steel firm rides on infra boom, posts record output

SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp. produced one million metric tons (MT) of reinforcing steel bars (rebars) in the first half of the year, a record high.

In a statement, the country’s largest steel manufacturer said this came amid robust demand from both private and public infrastructure projects.

Total production from its six operating plants hit 1.023 million MT in the first six months of the year, jumping nearly 11 percent from 925,503 MT in the same period last year, SteelAsia said.

SteelAsia chair and CEO Benjamin Yao said the company was “fortunate” to ride on the country’s infrastructure boom.

“With sustained economic growth, we believe that SteelAsia along with the whole steel industry will also continue to grow and serve more customers,” he said.

The biggest production came from SteelAsia’s steel mill in Meycauayan with 271,329 MT in the first half of the year.

SteelAsia’s Meycauayan mill supplies rebars to Metro Manila and Central and Northern Luzon developments.

This was followed by its manufacturing units—Davao Works with 257,032 MT and Calaca Works in Batangas with 255,147 MT output during the six-month period.

The balance was accounted for by its second mill in Meycauayan, Bulacan, Cebu Works in Carcar which serves the Visayas region, and second mill in Mindanao located in San Martin Villanueva, Misamis Oriental.

SteelAsia is investing over P100 billion in the next five years to more than double its capacity through more upstream facilities with the establishment of new integrated steelmaking plants.

Yao said SteelAsia had started construction of a seventh plant in Compostela, Cebu, to serve the growing consumption of construction steel in the Visayas region. —ROY STEPHEN C. CANIVEL