By Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat Several foreign groups have expressed interest in the mothballed National Steel Corp. (NSC) following moves by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) to broker talks among claimants of the Iligan-based steel manufacturing complex on hopes to establish a new integrated steel mill in the country. “There are several interested groups and we broker these talks to reach a common understanding among National Steel stakeholders because the platform is there already,” said PEZA Director-General Charito B. Plaza. Plaza said that groups from Russia, China, South Korea and Taiwan were interested in NSC because they have their own integrated steel mills. Even the Indian firm Global Ispat Holdings, the previous operators of NSC before the plant completely stopped operation, expressed strong interest saying they have a new big investor partner. But PEZA said the conversion of NSC cannot be done if the investors will be required to assume the huge debts of the company to the Iligan local government and the National Power Corp. “We cannot attract investors if we ask them to pay for NSC’s debts,” Plaza said. The idea Plaza would like to pursue is for the local government of Iligan to allow the conversion of the unpaid tax into equity in the company.  In November, 2017, the Iligan City government declared ownership of the moribund NSC plant covering over 400-hectares after its liquidator failed to redeem the company’s real properties with R5.843 billion in unpaid real estate tax. According to Plaza, Rep. Frederick Siao of the lone district of Iligan has been very active in this effort of restoring NSC back. PEZA has also sought the help of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to initiate meetings with the creditor banks, the LGU and other stakeholders, including the previous owners. Under Plaza’s leadership, she envisioned PEZA to be a catalyst in the improvement of the local supply value chain by paving the way for the development of domestic industries. PEZA said that as much as 75 percent of the inputs required by its registered export enterprises are imported and only 25 percent are locally sourced. “Our foremost material for the manufacturing sector is steel but we don’t have steel, what we have are bits and pieces in steel production but not an integrated steel mill,” she said noting that Steel Asia Manufacturing and Philippine Sinter Corp., two of the country’s largest steel industry players, cannot put up with the gargantuan capital requirement of an integrated steel mill. State-owned National Development Co., the original owner of NSC, sold the government’s share to the private sector and still owns 5 percent stake in the company. NSC’s ownership changed hands since then. Its most immediate owner was Indian investors, Global Ispat, which took over NSC in 2004 for a total price of P13.25 billion including an upfront cash of P1 billion while the remainder was to be paid over an 8-year period.