DENR to assess iron deposits for possible PHL steel facility

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will start assessing this month the country’s mineral iron deposits to determine the possibility of establishing an integrated iron and steel facility in the country. DENR Secretary Ramon Paje directed the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) on Friday to conduct an assessment of local iron deposits to determine if there will be enough raw material to supply an iron and steel facility the government is planning to put up. “We have to assess if we have sufficient iron ore reserves here in the country for the production of pig iron, which will serve as feeds in case we put up our own iron and steel facility," he said in a statement Friday. Paje added that the plan to take stock of mineral iron deposits aims to make the country self-sufficient in raw materials for the local steel industry, thus minimizing the importation of semi-finished steel. “Being self-sufficient in iron ore raw materials will enable the government to save millions of dollars it is now spending in the importation of semi-finished steel raw materials for the government’s steel industry," he said. Government records show that steel imports, mostly in the form of semi-finished steel, represent the country’s second highest importations, next to oil and petroleum products. An MGB study meanwhile showed that the current consumption of the country’s steel industry is approximately four million tons per year, and is expected to increase to about eight to 10 million tons annually. The country’s iron ore reserve is currently pegged at 493.5 million tons. The current price of imported iron ore is at $70 per ton, according to the MGB.—Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV