Treasure Steelworks hikes annual billet output

Iligan City-based Treasure Steelworks Corp. will hike its annual billet output by 15 percent after increasing capacity of its new facility, parent company TKC Steel Corp. said. Full commercial operation of the new eccentric bottom tapping electric arc furnace is expected to begin as soon as the series of tests for direct charging of beneficiated iron are completed, TKC said in a disclosure. The new facility has the latest supersonic oxygen injector to improve production output. “Together with the newly commissioned ladle furnace and newly installed iron ore beneficiating facility, the billet manufacturing shop of Treasure Steel will be the most modern facility in the Philippines, equal to similar modern plants in the Asian region," it said. Treasure Steel, which operates the former National Steel Corp., is testing locally-sourced iron ore processed from beneficiating facility as raw material for its furnaces. “Initial test results from the use of beneficiated local iron ore are said to be encouraging," the statement said. Tests indicated substantial cost savings and improved yields of melted steel which will reduce the company’s dependence on scrap, TKC said. Scrap metal is fast becoming scarce and costly despite the country’s sufficient supply of iron ore to meet its subsidiary’s requirements, TKC said. - GMANews.TV