Emirates Steel, the largest integrated steel producer in the UAE, said it has started inviting bids from major firms for the third phase of its expansion project and plans to award the contact by December.

Emirates Steel, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Basic Industries Corporation (Adbic), said the general engineering services (GES+) contracts in the phase 3 will include a steel melting plant, a hot rolled coil (HRC) mill and ancillaries.

The company has already completed, over a period of five years, a two-phased expansion program costing Dh9 billion ($2.45 billion).

The program consists of new rolling mills, steel manufacturing and direct reduction plants, together with a heavy and jumbo sections mill, due to come on stream by the end of the year.

Launched almost five years ago, the project is in line with Abu Dhabi’s visionary “2030 Plan”, which aims at reinforcing the industrial sector in the emirate, the company said in a statement.

The plan also targets the establishment of a solid and diverse manufacturing base that will help diversify the emirate’s resources and contribute to the nation’s income through the development of substantial industrial units, primarily in the basic industry sector.

Emirates Steel chairman Suhail Mubarak Musallam Athaeeth Al Ameri said the project will help primarily service GCC demand for HRC across a range of downstream segments, including: pipe producers; cold rolling producers of galvanized coil and coated sheeting products; boiler, tank and pressure vessel producers; and structural steel fabricators.

According to him, the new plants have increased the company’s rolling output capacity from 650,000 metric tons per annum (MTPA) to approximately 3 million MTPA at present.

Bin Athaeeth pointed out that the project had attracted significant interest from various internationally-renowned bidders.

The project is expected to be completed within 30 months from contract award, with commercial production of HRC anticipated in mid-2014, adding an additional production capacity of 1.6 million MTPA of product to the Company’s portfolio.  

Bin Athaeeth emphasized that well-equipped and highly-trained UAE nationals will supervise and follow up on the progress and the commissioning of the project.

“We succeeded in implementing the first two phases of the project relying on our national teams. Their remarkable talents have contributed to the process of lifting our national industries to higher levels,” he added.

Bin Athaeeth said an estimated 2,000 additional jobs for UAE nationals will be created in the country once the three phases of the project get completed.

“Emiratization is one of our highest priorities and we remain dedicated to contributing to this important government initiative”. In fact, the Company has already succeeded in increasing the percentage of UAE nationals handling top administrative and operational jobs to 62 per cent,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service