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Abu Dhabi's steel maker doubles output

Abu Dhabi's Al Ghurair Iron and Steel went into trial productions of its newly installed continuous galvanised line with an annual output of 200,000 metric tonnes.
The Dubai-based Al Ghuairar Group, which has stakes in the manufacturing of aluminium, packaging solutions, real estate, shopping malls and investments, has spent Dh200 million in the second phase of the expansion project to double its total output to 400,000 metric tonnes annually, its chief executive officer Abu Bucker Husain said.
The first phase of the project was completed in 2011, in a joint venture with Japan's steel giant Nippon steel. Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation has the total crude steel capacity of 47.32 million metric tonnes and a total sales turnover of $55.3 billion, as at March 31, 2016.
The completion of the new expansion was done two months ago, and right now, " We are running trial production of the new production lines, said Saif Al Ghurair, chairman of Al Ghurair Iron and Steel, while talking to Khaleej Times.
"The commercial production will begin in December," he said.
Earlier, in a briefing, Abu Bucker Husain said the demand in galvanised steel is growing at four per cent per annum. With the new constructions taking place to accommodate massive footfall expected due to Dubai Expo 2020 and Doha Football Cup in Qatar, the growth will surge further.
The steel maker markets 40 per cent of its products locally, while another 40 per cent is exported to KSA and Qatar, where massive surge is seen in the constructions, while remainder finds market in Africa, and North Africa.
In the local market, the CEO said among others, his competition includes steel coils from China that are sold $50, a ton less than the other brands.
The new production line will manufacture coils down to 0.2 mm thickness, which are used in construction, fabrication of air-condition ducts and non-automotive industries in the country and in the region.
With the new investment of Dh200 million, the total investments into the steel project have reached Dh600 million to date, the chairman said. The turnover would double to Dh1.5 billion with the 100 per cent increase in output, said the chief executive officer.
To a question, Husain said the current expansion was conceptionalised in 2008 when the project planned, for coming 2/3 years, the steel mill will focus on achieving 100 per cent capacity utilisation.
The first and only steel cold rolling and galvanising project in the UAE, Al Ghurair Steel's main production lines include a semi-continuous pickling line, a 6-Hi Reversing Cold Rolling Mill and a continuous galvanising line.
The steel maker produces Hot Rolled Pickled & Oiled Coils (HRPO) with thickness ranging between 1.2 to 4.5 mm. Cold Rolled Full Hard Coils with thickness from 0.20 to 2.50 mm and
Hot Dip Galvanised Coils up to 2.50 mm thickness.
- haseeb@khaleejtimes.com