DTI: Order on new steel standards out by August

An order mandating the enforcement of new steel standards—which would phase out non-seismic steel grades—may be issued as early as August as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) moves to align the country’s framework with international design standards.

Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said a technical regulation would be issued “soon” to enforce Philippine National Standard 49:2026, the updated standards framework for steel bars used in concrete reinforcement.

Ahead of its nationwide implementation, the DTI is “investigating” the issue, Roque said.

“We’re really focused on that especially because of the earthquake,” she told reporters. “There’s a lot of government departments that are working closely together to enforce whatever we will decide on this one.”

The planned order comes two months after the DTI approved the new steel standards in May, which remain unenforceable pending the issuance of the technical regulation.

Several steel manufacturers and industry groups have sounded the alarm in recent months over the absence of a rule that would phase out what they described as the “wrong materials” from the Philippine market, noting that the country is highly prone to earthquakes.

Urgent need

In a statement addressed to Roque in June, the Philippine Iron and Steel Institute said implementing the policy had become more urgent following the collapse of a nine-story building under construction in Angeles City, Pampanga, as well as the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck off Sarangani.

“Every day we delay implementation is another day Filipino lives are at risk from buildings that were built legally but not … to withstand what this country’s geology demands,” the group’s president, Joel Ronquillo, said in a statement.

Ronald Magsajo, chair of the Southeast Asia Iron and Steel Institute, also said the Philippines had already fallen behind in eliminating nonseismic steel produced through induction furnace technology.

Magsajo had urged the DTI to fast-track the implementation of the new rules, saying the issue is directly tied to public safety.

For her part, Roque acknowledged that enforcing the new steel standards was a “very sensitive issue” and vowed that all hands are on deck to investigate the matter.

Ahead of the DTI’s decision, its Bureau of Philippine Standards is set to hold a public consultation on Thursday on the revised standards for deformed steel bars. Manufacturers, importers and other stakeholders have been invited to discuss the proposed rules.