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IN a
move to take advantage of the high prices of steel in
the world market, listed TKC Steel Corp. (TKC) will
start exporting this metal alloy to Saudi Arabia, its
president and chief operating officer Anthony Dizon said
Tuesday.
The
company has recently concluded a contract to deliver an
initial shipment of 10,000 metric tons (MT) of
5SPPS-grade steel billets by the end of this month.
“This
will be the first time in recent history that
Philippine-manufactured steel billets will be exported
abroad, particularly to the Middle East,” Dizon said,
adding that “the steel billets are now being prepared at
the plant site of our subsidiary, Treasure Steelworks,
in
Iligan City.”
Steel
billets are long, rectangular or cylindrical unfinished
bars made of iron or steel. Current market prices range
at more than $1,000 per ton.
Dizon
said the initial shipment will be followed by a monthly
shipment of about 10,000 MT to 20,000 MT to other
prospective buyers.
“With
world steel prices at their highest levels, the
opportunity presented itself for the company to take
advantage of opening new markets for Philippine steel
billets and realize substantial gains from the
situation,” he said.
Exporting billets is an ideal strategy for the company
especially now that it is in the process of expanding
the manufacturing capacities of its facilities not only
in Iligan but also in
Xiamen,
China
through unit, ZZ Stronghold Steel.
TKC,
controlled by the Tiu family, is the only
steel-manufacturing company listed at the stock
exchange. It has controlling interests in Treasure
Steelworks, which operates the largest billet-making
plant in the country; as well as ZZ Stronghold, a
manufacturer of steel pipes in the southeastern Chinese
province of Fujian. |