THE Panhua Group, one of China’s largest privately-owned steel manufacturing conglomerates, will open a $1-billion facility in Sarangani province in June, Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said on Monday.
The project is just phase one of its expansion plans. The Panhua Group, founded in 2001 and based in Zhangjiagang in Jiangsu province, specializes in producing and processing flat-rolled thin steel sheets and coils used in the automotive, construction and appliance industries.
Roque met with Panhua executives during her visit to China on May 22–23 for the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting in Suzhou City.
For its first phase operations in Sarangani, Panhua will need 4,000 workers.
“They're very bullish about the Philippines,” Roque said.
Its manufacturing plant covers only a third of the company’s plan to invest as much as $3.5 billion in the Philippine steel industry, Roque said.
In 2018, the firm signed an investment agreement with the Department of Trade and Industry, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and the Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corp. Industrial Authority, which includes the establishment of an integrated steel mill.
In China, Roque also met with officials of companies in other sectors such as renewable energy (Goodwe and Yude Solar), E-vehicle and manufacturing (NWOW Technology, and Shanghai Launch), telecommunications infrastructure (Guodong Group), industrial and consumer products (C&U company), snack food maker Liwayway China (the Chinese subsidiary of the Philippine food and beverage giant, Liwayway Marketing Corp., known for its local brand name Oishi), tea brand Chagee, and F&B companies Joyvio Fresh and AGL.
Liwayway plans to build a coconut manufacturing plant that would produce goods for export to China and other markets, Roque said.
In 2025, over 100 Chinese firms have located to the country and generated 16,000 direct jobs, PEZA said.
