21st Century Steel Mill, Inc.

The Philippines steel production capacity is so small it registers as effectively 0% when put into the world production pie of 1.55 billion tonnes per year. (We produce 1.4 million tonnes incidentally.) The scary thing about this pie is the overproduction in China at a whopping 900 million tonnes per year. It may be a big country in need of much development but even it cannot absorb the staggering volumes coming out of its manufacturing plants.

So what do they do?
They “dump” their goods on various countries (since they need to continue producing to keep people employed and recoup their capital investment). This should be good news for the consumer who can buy the steel at cheap prices- unfortunately, when someone is selling at very cheap prices trying to recoup their losses, you can bet your bottom dollar they are not selling you something of quality.

Don’t take our word for it, steel that has found its way to the Philippines from the overcapacity in China has proven to be: underweight, undersized and uncertified as repeatedly reported by the Philippine Product Safety and Quality Foundation Inc. (PPSQF). Now steel, unless it is used for decorative purposes, is not something you can have a “bahala na” attitude with. Since it is a material that is meant to carry a load, using undersized or underweight materials means putting your life at risk. So make sure, before you make that purchase, that what you are putting into your building is safe for everyone.

Before you buy: check out the BSP Standards Gabay sa pagbili on steel bars.