Officials at Al Ghurair Iron & Steel have stated that the commissioning of their steel mill in Abu Dhabi has been postponed to May due to obstacles which have held up construction.
The cold rolling and galvanizing plant, which has required an investment worth $85 million and will be the first of its kind in the UAE, was initially due to be commissioned in September 2007 in order to satisfy the increasing demand from the construction sector. Construction work on the plant had been expected to be finished by the fourth quarter of 2007; however, due to obstacles which have slowed down construction, the finalization of the project will not be possible till this March, with commissioning expected only in May.
In the first phase of the project, which is a joint venture of Saif Al Ghurair group and Dubai-based trading company Tradeline, the mill will produce 100,000 mt of hot rolled as well as pickled and oiled steel products, 50,000 mt of cold rolled full hard steel and 200,000 mt of galvanized materials. Meanwhile, the second phase of the project is expected to be finalized by the end of 2010 and to increase the plant's total capacity to 500,000 mt of steel products.
The project is foreseen to meet 50 percent of the 400,000-mt-per annum-galvanized steel demand in the UAE, whereas 40 percent of the output is planned to be exported to international markets such as the US.
A professional team of project managers with vast global experience are working full time to set up the complex on schedule.