Plans to integrate the copper industry are taking form, as the government and the private sector are aiming to expand the coverage of a proposed clustered manufacturing zone to include medium and heavy manufacturing industries.
At the sidelines of the Board of Investments’s (BOI) Gathering of Industry Champions, Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. (Pasar) Chairman Angel Veloso Jr. revealed initial plans for the clustering strategy.
The BOI plan entails the creation of a clustered manufacturing zone at the Leyte Industrial and Development Estate (LIDE).
LIDE, where Pasar’s smelting operations are located, is being considered as the site not just for the manufacturing of copper and copper-based products, but also for other downstream “dirty industries,” to integrate the supply chain of the copper industry. Pasar operates the only copper smelter and refinery at LIDE. It produces mostly copper cathodes for export.
“The zone now is about 600 hectares; but the program now is that it will increase. It won’t be just for copper and copper-based, but the concept now is to expand it to all dirty industries, the medium and heavy industries,” said Veloso, noting that
steel manufacturers may also locate in the area.
He said they have finished the portion of the feasibility study on the establishment of a copper-rod facility, which would entail investments ranging from $10 million to $ 100 million. Veloso said future studies will look into the manufacturing of enameled wires for electric motors.
They are now working closely with the BOI to determine what other facilities can be set up in the zone, as a way of integrating the copper industry. BOI Managing Head and Trade Undersecretary for Industry Development and Trade Policy Adrian S. Cristobal said National Development Co., which is under management of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI0, will fund the study. Considering the environmental concerns of the com-
munities, the manufacturers that will locate at
LIDE must use “green” technology.
The next step now, Cristobal said, is to finish the study to determine if they can attract investors from the downstream and upstream industries.
The DTI is aiming to have a fully integrated copper industry by 2030, with contribution to the national output of as much as 2 percent from the current 0.2 percent.
In the short term, or by 2016, the road map of the copper industry has set a target of operationalizing at least two world-class copper mines.
By 2030, the industry’s objectives are to establish linkages between local mining and smelting, near self-sufficiency in copper rods, and development of higher-value copper products for the local and global markets.