[www.ferro-alloys.com] The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is appealing to President Duterte to give the green light to the P7.2-billion rolling steel mill project in Bulacan to revive the country’s flagging iron and steel industry.

The DTI is taking up the cudgels for embattled steel-production firm, Del Pilar Steel Inc. (DPSI), the proponent of the P7.2-billion steel-mill project in Bulacan that has yet to take off despite securing regulatory approval from the previous administration.

In a letter addressed to President Duterte, the DTI said Bulacan-based civil-society groups’ motion to block the steel plant’s establishment is delaying its operations.

The DTI said Steel Asia, which owns DPSI, has already secured an environmental compliance certificate from the Department and Environment and Natural Resources and the go signal from Plaridel’s legislative council.

However, the Kalikasang Dalisay Para sa Mamamayan ng Plaridel (Kadamay) said the issue of classification of the land to be used has yet to be settled.

Kadamay also said the plant’s area is irrigated agricultural land. The DTI’s letter also indicated that the Department of Agrarian Reform has yet to convert the land into industrial use.

The department considers Steel Asia’s rolling steel mill as a strategic project which could help build up the capacity of the local steel and iron industry. It is envisioned to be the country’s largest rebar-manufacturing facility, with a production capacity of 1.2 million tons.

The iron and steel industry today has diminished both in output and employment, due to the availability of cheaper steel imports from China, coupled with tariff elimination under the World Trade Organization.

As the shipbuilding and construction industries are currently on the uptrend, the DTI said the time is ripe for the local iron and steel industry to revive production and meet the expected increase in demand for steel.

The local industry imports around 4.84 million metric tons (MMT) of steel, or half of the Philippines’s steel consumption of 8.76 MMT. Steel Asia, the country’s largest steel producer, accounts for 2.1 million tons of Philippine industries’ annual requirements.

“We highly recommend the endorsement of the President of Steel Asia’s project to smoothen its entry in any viable site in the Philippines. The President’s endorsement can insulate the project from social opposition that may arise in the future that could delay its implementation,” the letter read.

During the campaign period, President Duterte pledged to revive the country’s iron and steel industry, as it is considered the backbone of the country’s industrialization. In June Mr. Duterte’s economic team led a consultative workshop with the country’s major business groups.

Among the recommendations of the business groups is the practice of “responsible mining,” with the option to gradually phase out mineral-ore exporting. This, they say, would spur value-adding in the local iron and steel industry.

**Article from Internet for reference only

• [Editor:tianyawei]