Wednesday, July 29, 2009 [ manilatimes.net ]
By Ben Arnold O. de Vera, Reporter
GLOBAL Steel Philippines Inc. said it would invest about $108 million to increase its production of flat products in the second half of the year in preparation for an expected upturn in steel demand.
The Indian-led company succeeded shuttered National Steel Corp. after the latter’s Malaysian investors backed out of the Philippines’ first integrated steel manufacturing plant based in Iligan City.
In a statement, Global Steel said it would import between August and December a total of 230,000 metric tons of slabs, which the company will use in manufacturing about 46,000 metric tons of flat products starting August.
Global Steel said it would source the raw materials from multiple suppliers, possibly from India, Italy, Turkey and Venezuela.
“Given the global volatility of prices, we are tying up slab supply, quality assurance and price competitiveness well in advance in order to protect the company from future volatility and [to ensure] consistent production, supply sustainability and profitability across the cycle,” Sangram Mohanty, Global Steel vice president for corporate communications, said.
In a telephone interview, Mohanty said Global Steel had operated on a per-order basis in the first half of this year, due to a slump in demand as a result of the worldwide economic slowdown.
But Mohanty said the company has seen indications that the steel market is improving lately. He added that economies in Southeast Asia, where Global Steel ships flat products, have been faring better. The company manufactures flat steel for domestic consumption and exports to Southeast Asia.
Mohanty said the company is planning to increase its production of flat products to about 80,000 metric tons a month starting January next year. Global Steel is also looking for new Asian markets for its products, he said.
“With improvement in consumption and assured supply of slabs, we are not thinking of ‘survival mode’ any longer as we are confident of the market and prospects ahead,” Lalit Sehgal, Global Steel managing director, said.
“We are also committed to pursue integrated manufacturing process right from mining as soon as the recession is over and the market improves,” Sehgal added.
____________________________________________________________________________________
