UNION GALVASTEEL CORPORATION

Real, Calamba, Laguna

January 22, 2015

I. INTRODUCTION

Mission

Union Galvasteel Corporation (We) shall supply products and services that are of distinct
quality to create value and satisfaction to our customers.
Union Galvasteel Corporation (We) shall continuously improve on the quality of our
products and services through innovation and creativity.
Union Galvasteel Corporation (We) shall run our business in accordance with the highest
ethical standards of integrity, trust and professionalism.
Union Galvasteel Corporation (We) shall provide for a working environment that will
promote the safety and welfare of our employees, uplift their well-being and create an
atmosphere for the continuous development of skills, enhance productivity and promote
opportunities for growth.
Union Galvasteel Corporation (We) shall manifest our role as a good corporate citizen
by initiating and participating in projects that promote growth and sustainable development in
the communities where we operate.
Vision
To be the preferred supplier of high quality building materials and services to the
construction industry.
Corporate Profile
Union Galvasteel Corporation (UGC) started as the Union Steel Plant Division of
Bacnotan Cement Industries, Inc.. (Bacnotan), a pioneer in the Philippine Cement Industry and
commenced commercial operations in 1963 with a galvanizing plant in Poro, San Fernando, La
Union for the manufacture of Galvanized Iron (GI) sheets. It subsequently expanded operations
with galvanizing plants in Ilang, Davao City in 1968 and in Calamba, Laguna in 1990. The
division was spun off in 1993 as a separate business unit and incorporated as Bacnotal Steel
Corporation. The company in 1995 established a modern Continuous Galvanizing Line and a
Color Coating Line for the manufacture of prepainted galvanized steel coils in Calamba, Laguna.
 In June 2000, the company was renamed Union Galvasteel Corporation, a name that
identifies its core business and brings Union Galvasteel as a leading brand of galvanized and
prepainted steel roofing products in the market.
Today, Union Galvasteel Corporation is the market leader in the manufacture and
distribution of prepainted galvanized roofing and other galvanized roofing and other galvanized
steel products such as steel decking, building systems’ components and insulated panels for
commercial, industrial, and residential applications. The company has the largest and most
diversified distribution network in the industry, with rollforming plants, warehouses and sales
offices in strategic locations throughout the country.
The company is owned by Phinma Corporation, a highly diversified holding company
with interests in enterprises involved in housing, steel roofing products, energy, education, and
business process outsourcing.
Phinma was founded in 1956 by a group of prominent businessmen and industrialists led
by Amb. Ramon V. del Rosario, Sr., Don Filemon C. Rodriguez, and Mr. Ernesto O. Escaler.
Technical Description
Since 1963, Union Galvasteel Corporation has been leader in the industry. The company
value the same element steel have in business which are malleability, toughness and durability.
Molded and shaped when tempered by heat, like steel, UGC has withstood the test of time by
evolving as the times have changed. Like steel, UGC inherent toughness has kept it solid and
strong through time. Today, UGC is the market leader in the manufacture of pre-painted
galavanized roofing and other steel products. Small to large scale builders choose UGC because
their products go through comprehensive quality systems and control that assure them of quality.
They go beyond expectations by constantly innovating and challenging their creativity. They
have the largest and most diversified distribution network in the industry with facilities and
warehouses that makes them accessible throughout the country. Consumers know that they can
count on UGC’s support and care from the time UGC introduce their products and to the time
they are delivered and utilized.
Costumer Service is everybody’s responsibility from the line to the sales. UGC’s focus
on excellence, innovation and service has kept them at the top of the market of industrial,
commercial or residential construction. Steel is made to withstand the test of time just as Union
Galvasteel Corporations enduring vision has guided its course for fifty years. UGC’s relentless
commitment to a vision of a stronger nation has kept them focused on making life better for
every Filipino by providing shelter for those in need, improving the education of our children,
protecting and preserving the environment and respoding in times of national and natural
disaster.
Union Galvasteel Corporation is the market leader in the manufacture and distribution of
prepainted galvanized roofing and other galvanized roofing and other galvanized steel products
such as steel decking, building systems’ components and insulated panels for commercial,
industrial and residential applications.
Union Galvasteel Corporation was the first in the Philippine galvanizing industry to
receive the ISO 9001:1994 certification. This quality management system is for the scope of
activities in the manufacture, sales and distribution of galvanized and prepainted coils and sheets.
The company has continued to improve its facilities, manpower, systems and procedures, and has
since upgraded to the current ISO 9001:2008 version.
ISO 14001:2004 is an Environmental Management System which was pursued by the
company in 2008 as a measure of reducing the adverse environmental impacts of its
manufacturing operations and as a commitment for a higher level of performance over regulatory
standards for a sustainable environment.
The company went even further by obtaining an ISO Certification for an Integrated
Quality and Environmental Management System under ISO 14001:2004. This system is geared
toward operational efficiency leading to the reduction of waste in the consumption of material
resources thus reducing operating costs and maintaining the desired quality results for its
products and services and encompasses effective protection and conservation of our
environment.
Plant Facilities
II. MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Raw Materials
UGC uses galvanized steel sheet and pre-painted galvanized steel sheet as their raw
materials.

Process Flowchart/Equipment

Figure 1. Process Flow Diagram of a Typical Galvanized Line

Finished Product
Listed below are the products UGC offers:
Roofing, Walling and Claddings

Roofing Accessories
Duratherm Insulated Panel

Building System Products

Light Metal Frames

Industrial Products

III. QUALITY CONTROL PROCESS

In-process Testing
 Fabricated assemblies, castings and other components for galvanizing should be
inspected before despatch to the galvanizer to ensure that the following points conform to
design requirements detailed earlier. This may avoid costly rectification and delays at the
galvanizing plant.
Size and shape. Check that work is suitably sized and dimensioned for the
handling and galvanizing facilities of the selected galvanizer. It may be too late to make
changes to the design, but it is costly to despatch work which the galvanizer cannot
process.
Structural steel. Check that bending, punching and shearing have been carried out
in conformity with the recommendations under Embrittlement.
Satisfactory galvanizing. Observance of the points listed below and described in more
detail previously in this section will ensure optimum galvanized product quality and
minimise extra costs or delays:
1. Check that closed vessels and hollow structures are vented for safety and satisfactory
galvanizing.
2. Check that welding slags have been removed.
3. Check that assemblies comprising castings and steels of widely differing surface
conditions have been abrasive blast cleaned to minimise differences in galvanized finish.
4. Check that castings are abrasive blast cleaned before despatch unless otherwise arranged.
Check that large grey iron castings have been normalised.
5. Check that appropriate temporary or permanent markings are provided.
Finished Product

The quality assurance/ control analyst will get a sample of the finished product and will
perform some test. The tests that the quality assurance analyst had told and demonstrated us are:
cross- hatch and scratch test, solvent-resistance test and the reverse impact test.

Cross-hatch test and scratch test is done by the use of cutter or any sharp object on
the sample and then a scotch tape will be used to determine if the coating of the
galvanized steel has been removed or not.

Solvent- resistance test is done by applying MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) on the
sample and see if the coating reacts with the solvent.

And the reverse impact test is done by applying a force (hammering the sample)
on the sample to see if the galvanized steel is strong enough to handle such stress.

IV. WATER AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT (ECOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT)

Whether over water, submerged in water or exposed to moisture-laden air because of

close proximity to fresh or salt water bodies, steel is acutely susceptible to corrosion. With a
variety of corrosion protection methods from barrier to cathodic based on long-term performance
and economy, hot-dip galvanizing is regularly selected. This article dissects the performance of
hot-dip galvanized steel in freshwater, salt water, warm water, cold water, tidal zones and above-
water applications.
Atmospheric Conditions
Galvanized steel performs best when the zinc coating is permitted to naturally
react with oxygen, hydrogen and carbon dioxide in the air to form a stable zinc carbonate
patina. In atmospheric exposure, this zinc carbonate film is inert, not water soluble, and is
generally slowly removed over long periods of time only by the physical forces of
abrasion and erosion (wind, water) or chemical reactions. In the case of atmospheric
corrosion, thousands of galvanized structures have been tested over many decades and
the life expectancy of the zinc coating without any maintenance can be accurately

predicted (see Figure 1). As the chart indicates, corrosion prevention without any
maintenance for 35-40 years in marine atmospheres is easily achievable by galvanizing.
Factors affecting performance include sulfides and chlorides in the air.
Zinc Corrosion Rates
In the case of chemical reactions in water, predictability of the effectiveness of
corrosion prevention of a galvanized system is much more difficult because of myriad
variables associated with exposure. Among those variables are pH level, oxygen content,
water temperature, water condition (hard and soft), water type (de-ionized, fresh, salt),
agitation and tidal exposure.
De-ionized (pure) water has an aggressive corrosive effect on hot-dip galvanized zinc
coatings and even more so when it’s aerated. As oxygen content increases, so too does the
corrosion rate of zinc. In fact, oxygen is five to 10 times more corrosive to zinc than carbonic
acid.
Freshwater environments have two major constituents for categorizing zinc
corrosion potential: hard and soft water. Carbonates and bicarbonates, present in some
concentration in freshwater, tend to deposit protective films on the zinc surface, stifling
corrosion. Carbonates subdue the corrosion effects of anions, the most corrosive to zinc
being chloride in concentration of 50 mg/L or more. The softer the water, the lower it is
in carbonate and thus a more pronounced chloride content and higher corrosion rate.
Conversely, the harder the water, the greater the carbonate level and corrosiveness of
chlorides is minimized. Therefore, the general rule is that soft water is more aggressive to
hot-dip galvanized steel while hard water is passive.
 Seawater is high in salt content in the form of sodium chloride. Typical surface
seawater has a pH of 8, due to excess amounts of carbonates. The pH may fall to 7 in
stagnant waters. Depth of water also plays a role in pH determination. The pH decreases
with depth. Since zinc is amphoteric, it is soluble in both base and acidic solutions.
However in the broad range of pH from five to 13, zinc is most stable and has a very low
corrosion rate (see Figure 2).
Temperature also affects zinc’s corrosion rate. Seawater temperatures can vary
widely from 28.4°F (-2°C) at the earth’s poles to 95°F (35°C) near the equator, the higher
the temperature the greater dissolution of zinc in water. Tropical seawater yields higher
corrosion rates, especially in polluted waters.
Tidal zones and fluid agitation are also important considerations in determining
corrosion protection delivered by hot-dip galvanized steel. Often, this motion of
“washing” the carbonates off the zinc surface and not allowing them to form a protective
film, along with zinc erosion, is the cause for base steel corrosion.

V. ROLES/JOB OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERS

Quality Control
Chemical engineer as a quality control analyst ensures that the quality of their
products reach the standards.

Process Engineer
Chemical engineer as a process engineer ensures that the process will run
smoothly. Process engineer monitors the equipment and makes sure that they are
functioning properly.
Design
Chemical engineer as a design engineer concentrates on how the equipments will
be arranged on the working area to yield a better production.
Research and Development
Chemical engineers under Research and Development are making researches for
the improvement of their products quality and develops process that will have a better
results.
Wastewater Treatment
Chemical engineers make sure that wastewater are being treated before disposing.

VI. APPENDIX
Documentation: Plant Tour Pictures

Bibliography
http://www.uniongalvasteel.com.ph/

http://www.shanghaimetal.com/Corrugated_Galvanized_Steel_Sheet_Roofing_Sheet--
pds534.html

http://www.waterworld.com/articles/iww/print/volume-7/issue-1/features/protecting-water-and-
wastewater-infrastructure-from-corrosion.html
http://www.voestalpine.com/division_stahl/content/download/3976/30670/file/tlb_feuerverzinkt_
stahlb_e_20022012.pdf
http://www.gaa.com.au/index.php?page=inspection-of-galvanized-products