$3.5-B integrated steel mill soon to rise at Phividec

PANHUA Group, China's leading integrated steel producer and exporter to the US, is set to invest a total of $3.5-billion for an integrated steel mill inside Phividec Industrial Estate in Misamis Oriental.  The steel complex will manufacture steel products of various applications, complete with a modern port and a 300-hectare industrial park.


Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director-General Charito B. Plaza and Phividec Administrator Atty. Franklin M. Quijano, together with other Philippine officials recently traveled to Panhua Group's headquarters in Zhangjiagang, China and visited its steel mills.  

The highlight of the mission was Panhua's signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with PEZA and Phividec for the multi-billion dollar project.

The country's industrialization level may be lagging behind our ASEAN neighbors (i.e., Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia), but the Duterte administration is determined to elevate the Philippine status as a newly industrialized/middle-income economy by the end of PRRD's term.

With government's much-increased spending to upgrade our ports, roads, and logistics connectivity--and coupled with our manufacturing resurgence and ease of doing business initiatives--the country is undoubtedly back on the industrialization track and gearing up to advance in the global value chain.

We can further stimulate domestic manufacturing and accelerate our industrialization if we attract foreign direct investments (FDI) that will put up basic industries in the country, such as integrated steel, petrochemical, and mineral processing.  

Since the Philippines is regarded as the 5th mineralized country in the world, we can capitalize on our rich mineral resources to be processed in the country (instead of being exported as raw ores) to encourage the establishment of basic industries and promote higher value-added production.


In the case of the steel industry, it is considered as the backbone of industrial development and a huge contributor to employment generation.  Having an integrated steel mill will bring about the growth of several big and small scale industries as well as the supporting power, transport and communication facilities.

This is what we badly need in the country to propel our economic/social progress and to enhance our competitiveness as an FDI destination.  This pioneering activity will surely make the Philippine a strong supply base for car assemblers, shipbuilders and other ecozone export/domestic producers particularly in the electronics, aviation, and machinery/metal fabrication sectors.

With our total annual demand of 10-m tons of steel materials (for which PH is ranked 17th among the biggest steel importers in the world), the country is ripe to host a hi-tech and environment-friendly integrated steel mill that can provide for all our domestic steel requirements, including building and construction materials needed for our massive infrastructure development (i.e., roads, bridges, ports, railways and mass transport system) under the "build, build, build" program.

PEZA's recent mission to Chongquing and Zhangjiagang in China will soon pave the way for the establishment of the first integrated steel mill in the country.

This is courtesy of Panhua group, a hi-tech private enterprise with diversified business interests and ranked no. 1 in China in steel sheet manufacturing and coating.

For its Philippine project under PEZA, it will invest a total of $3.5-billion for an integrated steel plant that will manufacture 10 product lines of various applications, complete with a modern port and a 300-hectare industrial park.

The Philippine delegation to China was led by PEZA Director General Charito Plaza and PHIVIDEC Administrator Franklin M. Quijano and ably assisted by DFA-Consul General Cresente Relacion and DTI-Vice Consul Mario Tani.

From the Chinese side, the team was joined in the plant visits and dialogue with Panhua top executives from their Foreign Affairs, City Government, Free Trade Zone, Business Chambers, Communist Party of China and Panhua's major business partners.  

According to PEZA Director General Charito Plaza, "the said project is a welcome development for the country, especially in its move towards industrialization; and that the long-awaited basic industry will put a stop on our importation of steel and hasten our country's industrialization."

Given its strategic importance, the government must provide all the support for Panhua's big-ticket project and other pioneering industries to ensure the continued growth of our manufacturing sector and to sustain our status as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. [Theo Panga]