The Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (Pisi) called on Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez to crackdown on Chinese induction furnaces that are notorious for the production of low-quality steel products.
In a letter to Lopez, Pisi President Roberto M. Cola said the government should immediately act on the shipment of furnace facilities to the Philippines from China. Cola said these induction furnaces are banned by the Chinese government for the danger it poses to health and environment, on top of the substandard steel that it produces.
“We write to raise our concern over the recent development in our domestic steel industry, whereby obsolete induction furnace facilities are being moved from China to the Philippines to produce construction-grade steel products,” Cola said.
“The Chinese government had previously banned these facilities from producing construction-grade steel in January 2017 because they produce substandard quality steel products and are one of the main sources of pollution in their host communities,” he added.
The Asean Iron and Steel Council (AISC) issued a statement urging the region’s governments to prohibit the entry of these steelmaking machines. These are responsible for low-quality steel products that are unsafe to use for construction, the council said.
Cola argued the main drawback of making use of these furnace facilities is its lack of a refining process to filter the harmful elements in the liquid steel. “This results to the inconsistent quality of construction- grade steel products manufactured from these facilities,” he said.
“The questionable quality poses a major safety hazard given that most of these products are reinforcing steel bars used in construction of buildings and infrastructures. The operation of these induction furnaces is likewise harmful to both workers and surrounding communities,” Cola added.
The Pisi chief also claimed these induction furnaces do not have a filter equipment intended to collect dust and gaseous emissions destructive to the environment. This results to the apparatus directly generating dust and harmful gases to the air during the scrap melting process. To ensure these furnace facilities will be restricted entry in the country, Cola told Lopez to adhere to the recommendations of the AISC. Taking a cue from the AISC, Cola said the government should “prohibit the import of induction furnaces from China for the purpose of reducing construction-grade steel products.”
On top of this, Cola also urged Lopez to ensure these steelmaking machines already in the country are only used for its permitted functions. Its allowable purposes are melting to produce various types of cast products in the foundry industry; produce ferroalloys with specific properties; and manufacture stainless and high-alloy steel.
The AISC reported about 600 of these furnace facilities are still being used in China as of last June. These induction furnaces have a combined capacity of 120 million tons of steel, but its total output in 2016 was around 30 to 50 million tons. The Chinese government has been trying to restrict the use of these furnace facilities since 2002, but failed to do so due to its rampancy in different parts of China. Chinese authorities refer to the steel products from these induction furnaces as di tiao gang, or ground steel.