According to the annual report presented by the Secretary General of the Arab Iron and Steel Union, Mr. Mohamed Laid Lachgar, in 2007 finished steel production in Arab countries increased by 16.46 percent year on year to 24.82 million metric tons.
During the period in question, the Arab countries' total production of long products amounted to 19.92 million mt - an increase of 18.71 percent over 2006, while their production of flats totaled 4.9 million mt - an increase of 8.17 percent over 2006. In 2007 Arab production of finished steel products accounted for about two percent of the total world production estimated at 1.2 billion mt.
In 2007, Ezz Steel ranked first among the top Arab steelmakers with a production of 4.853 million mt of finished steel products, showing an increase of 130,000 mt over the level of 2006. SABIC Hadeed ranked second with a production of 4.742 million mt, registering an increase of about 783,000 mt over the 2006 figure. The Al-Tuwairqi Group companies ranked third in terms of total production of long products with an output figure of 2.2 million mt.