The first ever ‘Made in UAE’ shipment of structural steel landed recently in the American and Mexican ports of Huston and Altamira. The shipment provided tangible evidence of Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Steel’s growth potential in the global marketplace. It also represented the Company’s first ever export shipment to the Americas.
To date Emirates Steel, a Senaat portfolio company, has been exporting its products to the regional markets in addition to the Indian sub-continent, Asia and Africa. The Company is now extending its global footprint and establishing a measured presence in the European and American markets.
“We want to extend beyond our traditional markets to leverage our experience and secure further growth,” commented CEO Saeed G Al Romaithi. “We are moving into the international markets, and are competing globally with the international steelmakers in high value niche markets,” stated Al Romaithi. “Supported by Senaat, we are well positioned, technologically, geographically and strategically, to become the region’s leading exporter to Europe, the U.S. and beyond,” he explained.
More than 13,000 tons of structural steel were shipped recently from Mina (Port) Zayed in Abu Dhabi on board the U.S. ship Illinois to two destinations in America and Mexico. The materials were produced to U.S. and Mexican requirements: high-tensile W sections with ASTM standards.
“We produced these sections to exact requirements,” commented Al Romaithi. “We identified the product grades that were required by our customers and produced them to order,” he pointed out. Approved by UK CARES for CE Marking, Emirates Steel’s bespoke structural steel products meet the exacting specifications of its target markets. Gabe Siegel, Owner of Houston-based Service Steel Warehouse Company, is happy with the quality of the products: “As a historical steel importer and consumer, I think it is exciting to see steel made in the Arabian Peninsula. The blend of the most current DRI technology with a first class rolling mill along with expertise in some of the most demanding applications will ensure that Emirates Steel will be a leader in long products today and into the future”. He said that ‘Made in UAE’ steel will be used mainly in U.S. commercial buildings, oil rigs, power and petrochemical projects, retail and residential buildings.
Emirates Steel’s AED 3.1 billion Heavy Section Mill, which started production in January 2012, has been producing parallel-flange beams, columns and bearing piles with up to 914 millimeter web depth and 419 flange widths, in addition to parallel flange channels up to 430 millimeter depth.
This structural steel is produced to norms such as EN, BS, W and JIS against grades such as S275JR, S355JR/JO/J2, ASTM A572 G50 and A992. The Company is also developing its own bespoke sheet pile designs, which will be manufactured in grades meeting the EN S355 GP, S390 GP and S430 GP standards.