[3] SteelAsia was established in 1965 by Benito Yao and Go Kim Pah, the latter being the founder of Equitable Banking Corporation.

[4] The company was founded as the Island Metal Manufacturing Corporation setting its first steel mill in Quezon City with the capacity of 30,000 tons per year.

[6][7] From the mid-2000s to the early 2010s, SteelAsia expanded its reinforcing bar production capacity; from producing 279,000 tons of rebar in 2006 to 1.2 million tons in 2013, securing almost half of the rebar market share in the Philippines.

[11] SteelAsia Manufacturing Corporation's Compostela, Cebu plant, CEO Ben Yao & Rafael Hidalgo exported P1.8 billion (35,000 metric tons) worth of green steel, high-strength rebar to a Canadian subway system in Vancouver.

"We also supplied the bar for the Cebu–Cordova Link Expressway and the contractor was Acciona," Benjamin Yao said.