UAE’s Emirates Steel wants to get go upstream with iron oxide pellet production
Emirates Steel takes on iron oxide pellet feasibility with Mauritanian entity
Dubai: Emirates Steel is thinking of setting up a joint venture to produce iron oxide pellets. The UAE manufacturer and Mauritania’s Société Nationale Industrielle Et Minière (SNIM) will jointly look into the feasibility of setting up such a JV.
Iron oxide pellets are the primary feedstock required for Direct Reduction steel plants. The feasibility study will be done over an 18-month period. If the partners do decide to get into full-scaleiron oxide pellet production, it will mean taking on upstream opportunities too.
“By investing in the production of this essential raw material, we are also securing a steady supply of feedstock that will shield us against global raw material market volatility and fuel our ambitious growth plans to expand our product range to include flat steel,” said Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi, Group CEO of Arkan and CEO of Emirates Steel.
Iron pelletising projects in the Middle East and North Africa will “accelerate” the development of the region’s steel industry. “At 1.5 billion tonnes, Mauritania has the largest iron reserves in the Arab world and Africa and we are very keen to establish strategic partnerships that allow us to take advantage of our mineral wealth in the most optimal manner,” said Mohamed Vall Ould Telmidy, CEO of SNIM
International steel prices have been on the march in the last year, in large part brought on by high supply chain costs.
Established in 1998, Emirates Steel supplies wire rods, rebars, heavy sections and sheet piles. It is the largest producer of heavy and jumbo sections, and the only producer of hot-rolled sheet piles in the region.
The company is the fourth steelmaker in the world to receive the ASME accreditation to produce nuclear grade rebar.