SteelAsia, the country’s largest rebar manufacturer, attributed the company’s competency to a low-energy-consumption technology using renewable power, dismissing claims of other industry players that high power cost was among the many deterrents to a fully competitive manufacturing sector.
“While others have been expanding capacity by using obsolete technology from abroad, we have always relied on the newest and most modern equipment for our mills,” said assistant vice president for corporate communication Ma. Teresa Pacis.
That has made SteelAsia both more competitive and economically viable in the long run, she said.
The company’s five steel mills—two in Luzon, one in Visayas and two in Mindanao—consume over 30 million kilowatt-hours a month. Nearly three-fourths of the power supply come renewable energy sources, especially geothermal and hydropower.