SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp. plans to start the operations of the country’s first industrial-scale melt shop in 2024 using the latest green technology from Tenova, a top executive said over the weekend.
“Our company’s long-term vision is to develop the Philippine steel industry because this is the backbone of industrialization. We have seen our neighboring Asian countries grow faster because they can manufacture their steel. The Philippines needs to catch up. As we do so, we want our technology to be at par with global standards in efficiency and environmental sustainability,” said Benjamin O. Yao, President and CEO of SteelAsia.
Tenova, a leading developer and provider of sustainable solutions for the green transition of the metals industry, and SteelAsia Manufacturing Corporation, the flagship steel manufacturing company in the Philippines, recently inked a partnership for Consteel® Evolution, a state-of-the-art low-impact technology for steel manufacturing. It will be the first of its kind in the country and will be employed in SteelAsia’s new melt shop in Lemery, Batangas, in 2024.
In order to guarantee the seamless operation of the entire line, Tenova scope of work includes the EAF (Electric Arc Furnace) Consteel® Evolution, the secondary metallurgy station, the billet caster, the Fume Treatment Plant (FTP) and the material handling systems, along with all engineering services for the civil works and the balance of plant.
The new Consteel® Evolution melt shop will recycle local scrap metal to produce high-grade billets for steel sections. The advanced Lemery facility will also be one of the cleanest steel plants in the world. It will generate the lowest carbon emission, providing Filipinos with top-quality steel sections produced with the most environmentally friendly technology.
The Consteel® Evolution technology saves energy, decarbonizes steel production, and reduces environmental impacts through efficient energy recovery and pollution control innovations. Scrap metal is a vital national resource used in steel production with low carbon emission, and SteelAsia targets to increase its output by maximizing the use of scrap metal.
Across many countries, there has been a shift from ore-based steel production to scrap recycling-based due to the global industry’s growing desire to reduce emissions and dependence on coal. SteelAsia’s partnership with Tenova to further pursue its decarbonization efforts aims to make steel production more sustainable without compromising its output and financial returns.
The company operates six manufacturing plants across the country, located in Bulacan, Batangas, Cebu, Davao, and Misamis Oriental. It is expected to open its seventh plant this year, located in Compostela, Cebu, and increase its output from 2 million metric tons of steel annually to 3 million metric tons.
“Thanks to our partnership with Tenova, we can increase our steel productivity to support nation-building while ensuring that we also take care of the environment.”“Thanks to Tenova’s continuous efforts to enable a more sustainable metals production, SteelAsia found in our portfolio the most suitable technologies to produce high-quality steel from recycled scrap. We are honored to support SteelAsia in the green industrial development of the Philippines,” commented Paolo Stagnoli, Commercial Director Electric Arc & Ladle Furnace in Tenova.| – BNN/pr
