Chinese steel company Panhua Integrated Steel Inc. is set to start production for its $1-billion steel facility in Sarangani Province in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to an official.
With construction ongoing, which is about 41% complete, it is targeted to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The facility is considered the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country so far.
Former Sarangani Governor and new Alsons Development and Investment Corporation (Alsons Dev) President and Chief Executive Officer Miguel Rene Dominguez, who is also the president of the General Santos City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (GSCCCII), told Edge Davao that when fully operational, the steel plant is expected to provide the Sarangani LGU a P200 million worth of income.
“It would bring in a lot of skilled people such as engineers, it would downstream industries, it will ensure quality and reliable construction materials, which we don’t have to import any more. It will drive competition, wherever there is competition, who wins? It’s the consumers,” Dominguez said.
He said in its construction phase, the plant will employ about 2,000 workers during the peak of its construction activities.
The steel plant is expected to generate 700 permanent jobs during the plant operation as well as provide countless employment and related opportunities through their downstream industries, suppliers, and allied service providers.
Occupying 40 hectares inside the Kamanga Agro-Industrial Ecozone Development Corporation (KAiEDC) in Barangay Kamanga, Maasim, Sarangani Province, the steel plant is eyeing production output of about 2 million metric tons annually.
Panhua Integrated Steel Inc. is dubbed a world leader in steel manufacturing and the first-ever integrated steel manufacturing plant in the Philippines that uses iron ore as the main raw material to produce steel billet.
Meanwhile, Dominguez said that a lot of industries are coming in in Sarangani Province due to its stable and reliable power supply.
According to him, Alsons just completed its 15-megawatt (MW) run-of-river hydroelectric power plant at the Siguil River basin in Maasim, Sarangani Province. He also said Alsons will be building solar facilities.
KAiEDC is a subsidiary of Alsons Consolidated Resources Incorporated. It is accessible to key ports namely Makar Wharf, GSC International Airport, and GS Fishport Complex.
Its key locators are the Sarangani Energy Corporation and the Panhua Integrated Steel Inc.
