Known today as one of the top 2000 companies in the Philippines, 21st Century Steel Mill, Inc. was founded in 1994 by steel industry veteran Benjamin Sayhisek together with his sons after they saw the need for automation in a labor-intensive and oft times dangerous industry for the workers.
Japanese State of the Art Rolling Mill
Their quest brought them to Japan where they became convinced that the best way going forward was to buy a complete state of the art rolling mill from one of the most technically advanced countries in the world.
After passing the learning curve, training local engineers to work with the advanced fully automated tandem mill with a capacity of 25 tons per hour, the company continued with incremental improvements on the basis of using only the best technology in the manufacture of section steel bars that met and even exceeded standards set by the local government.
CLOSING AND REOPENING
However, in 2008, due to massive importation of undersized and underweight steel goods, 21st Century Steel had to shut down production. It was not alone as six (6) other major manufacturers also shut their mills resulting in hundreds of jobs lost. Thankfully, the government seeing the calamities that could ensue from these unsafe steel bars (the Philippines is after all along the pacific rim of fire and riddled with fault lines), clamped down on the illegal goods and the manufacturers were able to resume their plant operations.
Taking advantage of the down time, massive improvements were put into the mills including the purchase of state-of-the-art DC control panels from Taiwan and the overhaul of the furnace. These investments were made to raise efficiency and reduction in the use of fossil fuels as the company does its part in creating a more sustainable future.
LIFE ON OUR SHORES POST COVID
In 2010, more improvements were made after weeks of widespread flooding with Typhoon Ondoy (September 2009) causing significant damage. Another hiatus came during COVID times when everything shut down.
Post Covid (2025), 21st Century Steel has put in further investments in the hopes of keeping our fathers and mothers home by creating competitive local jobs as well as providing reliable, quality steel goods at fair prices (not the cheapest because those are smuggled or substandard) for Filipino consumers. It still provides the best quality sections bars in the Philippines, serving major customers within Metro Manila as well as those in Aklan, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, General Santos City, Iloilo, Roxas, Zamboanga City and other communities within the Visayas and Mindanao area.
21st Century Steel Mill, Inc. 