The Philippines suspended quality conformity license of six steel manufacturers for retailing and producing substandard steel products in 2019. Independent tests proved that these steelmakers’ products, especially construction grade, failed to comply with Philippine National Standard (PNS 49), Series of 2002.
Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) suspended the Philippine standard (PS) licenses of Maxima Steel, Henro Steel, Steel Asia Manufacturing (Meycauayan Bulacan Plant), Cathay Metal, Sagarthama Steel and Somico Steel. DTI enforced the suspension after unannounced surveillance audits conducted by the Bureau of Philippine Standards at several steel plants in the country. The license will remain suspended until they comply with the PNS. If these traders or producers import non-standard construction steel products, the imports will be destroyed or exported back to the country of origin.
Sub-standard bar menace
The Philippines is struggling with influx of the import of banned induction furnaces from China. Overcapacity and pollution concerns forced China to impose strict steel production curbs and phase out polluting and outdated induction furnace from mainland China. Many steel producers in the Philippines imported these induction furnace to make sub-standard construction-grade steel bars instead of cast iron. These sub-standard steel bars when sold in the domestic market led to unsafe building construction. DTI penalised 42 retailers and manufacturers of steel in 2019 for non-conformity PNS.