SteelAsia taps returning OFWs for new plant

MANILA, Philippines —  SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp. has hired a group of returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from the Middle East to help build the country’s first steel sections mill in Lemery, Batangas.

In a statement, SteelAsia said that these workers have decades of experience working in section mills in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and other parts of the Middle East.

A steel section mill is an industrial rolling facility where semi-finished steel billets are transformed into finished structural steel shapes such as I-beams, H-sections, channel steel and angle bars.

These products are used in construction, heavy infrastructure and industrial applications.

The Philippines currently sources these heavy steel products from abroad.

SteelAsia’s Lemery plant is expected to start operations within the year.

SteelAsia currently employs 106 repatriated OFWs across its four mills in Calaca in Batangas, Meycauayan in Bulacan, Compostela in Cebu and Davao City.

Apart from employing returning OFWs, SteelAsia is also implementing workforce development initiatives.

Through SteelAsia Academy, the company is providing technical and vocational training for out-of-school youth and indigenous people from surrounding communities.

As SteelAsia is expanding operations in the country, it expects to create at least 30,000 jobs in the coming years through direct employment and related industries.