BOI orders probe of Global Steel's Iligan plant

MANILA, Philippines - The Board of Investments (BOI) has ordered the investigation of the mothballed Iligan plant of Global Steel Philippines Inc. (GSPI) because the facility has been closed for a year.

In an interview with reporters, BOI managing head Cristino L. Panlilio said they are concerned with the operations of Global Steel because the only manufacturer of hot rolled coils (HRC) and cold rolled coils (CRC) in the country has been closed since last year.

“We are worried that our steel industry is being left behind,” Panlilio said. “We are very concerned.”

“With the construction boom, we are not even able to supply our own requirement of steel billets,” Panlilio, who is also an undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) added.

Panlilio has formed a BOI task force to investigate Global Steel. For his part, Raul V. Angeles, the head of the task force and an executive director of the BOI said they met with representatives of the Indian led firm before the Lenten break.

“They told us they can operate in July. They said they will be restructuring their payables,” Angeles said in a separate interview.

According to Angeles, they gave Global Steel one month to come up with a status report. He said they have already issued a show cause order that will force Global Steel to give a report. Global Steel is supposed to be getting incentives from the BOI but because it has been unable to meet the requirements, it has not enjoyed the benefits.

Angeles also said Global Steel has been remiss in paying their electricity bill and is in the process of negotiating with PSALM. Likewise, there have been reports that the firm has not been able to pay a number of its employees.