Kuwait might soon have an additional steel rebar capacity as a new project seems to be nearing completion. According to market sources, the Kharafi Steel company is expected to launch 500,000 mt per year rebar production by the end of the current year or in early 2020. Initially, it was planned to start the operations in summer this year, SteelOrbis understands. The company has been already operating a 150,000 mt per year induction furnace melt shop, named Al-Oula Steel. Previously, the company was supplying some billet volumes to Saudi Arabia.
As a result, the Kuwaiti market which normally consumes around 100,000 mt of steel rebar per month might soon have another sizeable domestic supplier. Currently, the market is dominated by the sole rebar producer which operates a 1.4 million mt per year rolling capacity.