Al Ghurair Iron & Steel breaks ground to setup the first Cold Rolling and Galvanising Complex in the UAE

Abu Dhabi, May 9, 2006

Al Ghurair iron & Steel held a ground breaking ceremony at its one million square feet plot in the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi (ICAD) at Musaffah. Present at the historic moment were esteemed customers, dignitaries from the business houses, steel processors and buyers, fabricators, consultants and representatives of equipment suppliers and contractors.

The AED 300 million Cold Rolling and Galvanising Complex is the first facility of its kind in the UAE and is designed to produce 350,000 tonnes of Hot Rolled and Pickled & Oiled steel products of which 50,000 tonnes would be saleable Cold Rolled Full Hard steel and 200,000 tonnes Galvanised material and the balance HRPD.

Majid Saif Al Ghurair and Ahmed Lafir, the co-promoters of the promoting company Tradeline LLC, Dubai, thanked the management team of ICAD which has helped in getting all the regulatory approvals in an expeditious manner. They also explained that the product to be manufactured would replace the hitherto imported material and meet the ever growing appetite of the region’s booming construction and industrial sectors. The finished products rolling out will carry the prestigious label - “GCC Certificate of Origin”.

The manufacturing complex will occupy 50,000 square mtrs of the site and the remaining are will be utilized for roads and the office complex with adequate provisioning for future expansions. Potential customers for the plant’s products are expected to be from the construction sector, fabrication units and Oil & Gas sector.

The complex is being set up by a professional team of project managers with vast global experience. Mr. Raman Madhok, the Chief Executive Officer is the erstwhile Joint Managing Director & CEO of JSW Steel Limited, a 3.8 million tonne integrated steel manufacturer in India.

The major equipment supplier for CGL, Pickled & Cold Rolling Complex is Flat Products Equipment (I) Ltd., Andritz AG of Austria will supply regeneration plants for the recovery of waste pickling liquor from pickling plants.
The project, besides being of strategic importance to UAE’s industrial development, would also leverage the industrial growth of upstream and downstream manufacturing facilities aligned to the segment and will usher in an era of rapid investment opportunities in manufacturing.

/ENDS

For more information contact:
Mr. Raman Madhok, Chief Executive Officer, Tradeline LLC Dubai on 04-2219086 or by email at ramanmadhok@tradelinellc.ae