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Emirates Steel succeeded in rolling out the first beams, marking the start of the hot commissioning of the first Heavy Section Mill in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Emirates Steel succeeded in rolling out the first beams, following successful hot trials in November, marking the start of the hot commissioning of the first Heavy Section Mill in the region at a cost of around $650 million. The steelmaker says it can now produce large-size sections, beams, columns, and sheet piles.
“This is the latest achievement in the completion of the Expansion Program at our integrated complex in Musaffah,” said HE Suhail Al Ameri, Chairman of Emirates Steel. “In support of Abu Dhabi’s economic ‘Vision 2030′, our Expansion Program has been designed to give Emirates Steel a competitive advantage over its international competitors by giving it better access to local energy resources and utilizing state-of-the-art technologies.
“Now that Phase 2B is complete, we will be the only producer of jumbo and heavy sections in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and will be able to offer drastically reduced lead times and an improved product offering in terms of piece count and cut-to-length services,” Al Ameri added.
The company had launched in January 2006 a two-phase Expansion Program worth US$2.45 billion. Phase 1 was completed in June 2009, Phase 2A in March 2011, and Phase 2B in December 2011. The new Heavy Section Mill will be integrated with the second 1.4 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) Steel Meltshop and the associated Direct Reduction Plant (DRP) already started successfully in fall 2010.
Emirates Steel’s Phase 2A, which consists of a 1.6-MTPA DRP and a 1.4-MTPA Steel Making Plant (SMP), has increased the company’s DRI (direct reduced iron) capacity to 3.2 MTPA and steelmaking capacity to 2.8 MTPA.
Phase 2 DRP and SMP, which are twin plants of Phase 1 assets, were commissioned on schedule in March 2011. Cold commissioning of both plants had commenced in October 2010. According to Al Ameri, Emirates Steel is now ahead of schedule in its expansion plan.
Constructed by Italy’s Danieli, the Emirates Steel Heavy Section Mill will produce parallel-flange beams, columns, and bearing piles with up to 1016-mm web depth and 419 flange width, up to 430-mm parallel flange channels, 250-mm angles, 750-mm U-sheet piles, and 630-mm Z-sheet piles using 350 x 220-mm conticast blooms and up to 1050 x 460 x 120-mm beam blanks as starting material.
The plant’s new facilities together with its planned further expansions will enable Emirates Steel to increase its production to around 6.5 MTPA within the next four years.
Citing statistics from Steel Business Briefing, Emirates Steel notes that demand for medium and heavy sections in the Middle East is forecast to reach 4.3 million tonnes in 2012, with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates being the biggest consumers. Demand is currently met by imports mainly from China, Korea, and Eastern Europe. The Gulf Cooperation Council region’s total steel demand is 20 million tonnes per year, compared to a capacity of 12 million tonnes per year.
