The Philippines sits on vast reserves of minerals, both metallic and non-metallic. Aside from gold and copper, the country is also rich in iron ore reserves of almost 300 million metric tons. To further promote investments in the mining of metals, the Philippine government allowed 100 percent foreign ownership of large-scale mines (subject to certain terms and conditions) in the hope of attracting quality operators and ensuring a steady output of metals. The rapid development of the Philippines and continuous growth of the Southeast Asian region has resulted in higher demand for iron and steel products domestically and regionally.  The Philippine economy has been performing beyond expectations over the past years, growing from 5.1% in 2011 to 6.8% in 2012, and to 7.2% in 2013. In this unprecedented growth, the construction sector is a major contributor driven by demand for private residential and office buildings and infrastructure spending by the government, which led to an upswing in demand for steel products. From 2010 to 2013, the country’s apparent steel consumption (ASC) increased from 4.1 to 6.6 million metric tons --- a consumption growth of 61% in three years. Philippine-based iron and steel manufacturers have expanded their production capacities in the long products sector, but still fall short of domestic demand, mainly because of the absence of an integrated steel mill (ISM). The flat products sector has no local production of hot rolled coils (HRC), hot rolled plates (HRP), and cold rolled coils (CRC), and all are currently imported. The availability of raw materials (i.e. iron ore) and semi-processed products (i.e. pig-iron) presents the opportunity for local iron and steel manufacturers to domestically source their input requirements and, more importantly, the possibility of establishing an ISM. Investing in the Philippines will provide iron and steel manufacturers better access to other ASEAN-member countries, which includes the big steel markets of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 will further facilitate the free flow of commodities across the region, including iron and steel.

Steel product lines locally produced

• Semi-finished products: billets
• Finished long products:
  • Reinforcing steel bars (all sizes)
  • Angle bars – 80mm and below
  • Light sections, channels and shapes
  • Steel wires
  • Steel purlins
• Finished flat products:
  • Hot dipped galvanized sheets
  • Zn-Al coated sheets
  • Welded black iron pipes and tubes
  • Welded galvanized pipes and tubes
  • Pre-painted galvanized / Zn-Al coated coils and sheets
  • Pre-painted galvanized iron

  Apparent Steel Consumption (ASC), 2007-2012*

Particulars	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Billets	1,744,265	1,554,497	1,941,799	2,219,998	2,311,252	2,543,855
Slabs	319,079	250,139	64,286	0	8,759	0
Long Products	2,201,216	2,179,056	2,263,840	2,774,510	3,123,520	3,851,836
Flat Products	2,101,690	2,032,120	1,646,936	1,748,877	2,517,381	3,180,740
Long and Flats Total	4,302,906	4,211,176	3,910,776	4,523,387	5,640,901	7,032,576

*In metric tons. | Sources: BOC, DTI, PISI, SEAISI, and industry sources   Trade Performance, 2004-2012*

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Exports	92	162	346	220	151	74	105	44	0
Imports	2,867	2,721	3,077	3,433	3,018	2,830	3,148	3,922	4,684

*In ‘000 metric tons. | Source: SEAISI

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