CEBU CITY – SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp., the country's largest steelmaker, has seen rebar exports to Canada hit P1.5 billion, driven largely by shipments used for the construction of a subway system.

Rafael Hidalgo, SteelAsia senior vice president for business development, told reporters on Thursday that the firm was taking advantage of strong international demand for steel.

"We've had the chance to export, [and] I think we've had six shipments already to a Canadian subway system," Hidalgo said.

This year's exports include three shipments made this year for Spanish multinational builder Acciona S.A., with a corresponding volume of about 35,000 metric tons (MT) of rebar per delivery.

Acciona is a partner of the Canadian firm that has been selected to design and construct a three-kilometer section of the Ontario Line subway in Toronto, Canad, Hidalgo said.

SteelAsia Chairman and CEO Benjamin Yao said the company had previously worked with Acciona for the construction of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway, which paved the way for the Philippine firm's foray into the international market.

"This is all because we supplied the bar for the Cordova Bridge and the contractor was Acciona," Yao said.

Last month, SteelAsia announced that it had secured an P8.3-billion loan to complete its P18-billion steel section mill in Lemery, Batangas.

The soon-to-rise facility in Batangas will be the country's first steel sections mill and is scheduled to be fully commissioned in 2025.

The new facility, Yao said, will reduce imports of steel section products like H-beams, I-beams, and angle bars that are used for infrastructure projects like bridges, railways, high-rises, industrial buildings, and telecommunications and transmission towers.

SteelAsia, which has an annual production capacity of over three million MT, currently operates five facilities in Luzon, two in the Visayas, and another two in Mindanao.

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