THE dream of the Philippines to have its own fully integrated iron and steel industry is now nearing reality as inquiries from big foreign firms have started to pour in on the feasibility of setting up operations here from the mining of ore to actual production.

Trade Undersecretary and Board of Investments (BOI) managing head Elmer Hernandez, although declining to specifically name the companies, said these interests are coming from Japanese, Chinese and Indian firms.

He said these companies are particularly inquiring on the support being given by the government to the mining and steel-making industry, especially the fiscal incentives.

These firms, Hernandez said, are keen on investing from the exploration stage to the mining and processing of iron ore, and then the production of basic iron and steel.

“This could be the fulfillment of the dream of the government to have a fully integrated steel industry since the 1950s,” Hernandez told the BusinessMirror.

Last week Hernandez said representatives of the China Metallurgical Group went to his office to inquire on the government support for the development of the mining and steel industries.

The officials of the firm also talked to Environment Secretary Lito Atienza, who later announced that the company is interested in investing up to $10 billion for an integrated iron and steel operations in the country.

Hernandez said the primary reason for this renewed interest on the Philippines despite its iron ores being considered as low grade is the spiraling of steel prices in the world market.

He said with steel prices now five times more than in the past few years, extracting the low-grade iron ore in the country has become economically viable.

This, in turn, made the establishment of basic iron and steel production facilities more feasible as the country will have its own steady supply of iron ore.

“Our ore is no longer considered marginal. Also, the more advanced technology has made the marginal deposits viable to extract,” Hernandez said.

With this renewed interest, Hernandez said, the BOI will now aggressively promote iron-ore mining and basic iron and steel manufacturing in the country in the BOI road shows abroad.

The gestation period for a basic iron and steel facility, he said, is two to three years, while mining and mineral processing is three to eight years.

Investments, meanwhile, for exploration to mining and processing range from $300 million to $500 million. Manufacturing of basic iron and steel, on the other hand, would cost billions of dollars.

Seipi for removal of royalties on natural gas to cut power rates

HOPING to encourage more industries to stay in the Philippines, the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries of the Philippines  Inc. (Seipi) echoed Tuesday calls to partially remove the royalties collected from natural gas could help bring down power costs in the country.

Subic offers rent-free perks for high-tech firms

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) will now waive rental fees for high-technology firms from Taiwan under a bilateral agreement forged during the joint economic conference between the Philippines and Taiwan the other week.

THE dream of the Philippines to have its own fully integrated iron and steel industry is now nearing reality as inquiries from big foreign firms have started to pour in on the feasibility of setting up operations here from the mining of ore to actual production.

Trade officials from Apec agree on measures to address food crisis

TRADE ministers from the 21 member- economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) have agreed to step up measures in addressing food crisis through improvements in market access and substantial reduction in price distortions and increase in agriculture productivity.

Local food producers target halal market

LOCAL producers of halal foods and other industry stakeholders will be crafting new strategies on how the country can better exploit the $550- billion, and still growing, global halal market.

International travel fair in Cebu to focus on Chinese tourists

IT’S the turn of the Chinese and its huge population to be on the spotlight in the Philippine International Travel Fair (PITF), which is set to start later this week at the Cebu International Convention.

Transco, Veco sign P171.75-M subtransmission divestment deal

IN compliance with its mandate in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) to divest its subtransmission assets, the National Transmission Corp. (Transco) said Tuesday it signed a deed of absolute sale with the Visayan Electric Co. Inc. (Veco) to transfer ownership of P171.75 million worth of subtransmission assets to Veco.

Atienza presses for setting up of ecology center in every barangay

ENVIRONMENT Secretary Lito Atienza is batting for the establishment of an ecology center in every barangay to boost the nationwide implementation of Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2001.