Dubai's demand for steel rebar to grow 20% annually

Dubai: Dubai's construction boom will boost steel reinforcement bar consumption 20 per cent annually for the next several years, an industry expert said.

The emirate's rebar consumption is projected to be about four million tonnes this year, said Vikram Bhatia, director of Alam Steel Industries.

Sixty per cent of rebar used locally is procured through processing plants but this could grow to 80 per cent in the next two to three years, said Bhatia, whose company inaugurated a steel plant in Dubai Investment Park last week.

"We see more contracting firms using processing plants for procuring rebar as new capacity becomes available," he said. Alam Steel's Dh30 million plant has a capacity to process up to 300,000 tonnes of rebar per year. It will produce pre-cut and bend steel products for the construction industry.

"If construction continues in Dubai at current levels, we will have to expand the plant in a couple of years. Rebar consumption will grow at 20 per cent per annum for at least three years," Bhatia said.

The plant's capacity can be doubled in the second phase expansion, he said, adding it was the biggest rebar processing facility of its kind in the region.

The company aims to have a 10 per cent share of the local rebar processing market once its plant reaches full capacity.

"The rebar facility will complement our existing businesses and is part of our strategy of moving up the steel value chain," Bhatia said.

Alam is also building a Dh50 million facility in Jebel Ali to process long and flat steel products primarily used in the oil and gas industry.

The factory will be built on an area of 30,000 square metres. The company is also building a facility in Sharjah's Hamriya Free Zone to distribute steel products in the Northern Emirates.