Posted on 10 Nov 2026
SteelAsia Manufacturing Corporation is betting on domestic steel production to reduce the Philippines’ reliance on imported products, targeting $2 billion in annual import substitution through new manufacturing facilities scheduled for rollout over the next three to four years.
Company president Rafael Hidalgo said the expansion could help reduce the country’s trade deficit and demand for foreign currency by replacing imported steel with locally manufactured products. “Through our expansions, the ones we’re rolling out in the next three to four years, we will reverse 4 percent of that trade deficit by substituting imports worth $2 billion a year,” he said in an interview on Bilyonaryo News Channel’s “Follow the Money.”
Hidalgo cited a Philippine trade deficit exceeding $50 billion, with steel products accounting for approximately 10 percent of the total. “So that’s a big dollar savings that should help keep the peso stronger,” he said.
SteelAsia executive vice president and COO Pek Hoong Chong said the company is developing manufacturing facilities in Lemery, Batangas; Candelaria, Quezon; Davao; and Concepcion, Tarlac.
The projects will expand production to include additional steel products, including structural sections, beams and, eventually, wire rods.
SteelAsia’s expansion also involves production technology supplied by European industrial equipment manufacturers. “Our mills typically come from German or Italian technology. SMS of Germany and Danieli of Italy are the two key technology providers that we have employed in all our mills,” Chong said, referring to the German and Italian steelmaking technology suppliers.
Hidalgo said domestically manufactured structural sections could offer a cost advantage over imports because imported products involve lengthy delivery periods, handling, cutting waste and financing costs. “When we start running our mill, we will be 20 percent lower, installed, than a Chinese exporter to the Philippines,” he said.
SteelAsia expects to begin manufacturing structural sections next year as part of its effort to replace imported steel products.
Source:Bilyonaryo News Channel
