MINDANAO'S construction industry has given easy access to high quality steel bars at low costs, as the Steel Asia Manufacturing Corp. (SAMC) officially inaugurated Thursday the P3-billion Davao Works Rolling Mill.
The Davao Works Rolling Mill is dubbed as he country's largest and most advanced steel mill located at Purok 17, Bunawan, Davao City.
The opening was spearheaded by SAMC chair Benjamin Yao, along with Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Gregory Domingo and former Davao City mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
Yao, in his opening speech, said: "Expensive interisland shipping costs from Manila increase the cost of rebars and other construction materials in Mindanao. By locating a mill in Davao, Steel Asia will eliminate expensive shipping costs and help boost Mindanao's infrastructure and construction activities."
He also said that consumers may save as much as P35,000 per shipping of rebars as there are no more freight costs with the new facility in Davao City.
The SAMC chair also said that the establishment of the steel mill in Davao will aid in the port congestion in Manila, saying: "Even Manila will benefit as well. By locating mills outside of Manila, 75 percent of Steel Asia's products will not use the Manila ports. We are proud to be part of the solution to Manila's nagging port congestion problem."
Yao told reporters in a separate interview that SAMC has largest piece of the pie in terms of market share, as he claimed that SAMC takes 50 percent of the market while 11 of its competitors are already sharing the other half.
Doming, in his welcome remarks, reiterated Yao's statement, saying: "The opening of this plant will result in the reduction of costs of rebars for the entire island of Mindanao and as Ben has mentioned earlier, it will also reduce the time of the delivery of products. And as you know, in business and construction work, reducing the risk of delivery time is a major factor in making investment decisions. Therefore, as a result of this, coupled by the fact that by the end of next year, Mindanao will have sufficient power, I think Mindanao will become a very competitive place to do business in."
The DTI secretary also said that as the economy of Mindanao continues to grow with the aid of SAMC, it will be a good kickoff for lasting peace under the Bangsamoro government.
SAMC Davao Works is estimated to produce 500,000 metric tons of rebars annually and this is a huge portion of the total production capacity of more than two million metric tons from its other plants in the country.