UAE-based Green Metals Industries (GMI) plans to develop an integrated steel, pipe and tube complex in Abu Dhabi's Kezad industrial zone that will produce specialty and alloy steel grades currently imported by the country, the company said on 30 September.
All steel produced at the complex will be melted and poured in the UAE, aligning with the "Make it in the Emirates" agenda, GMI said.
The complex combines steel melting, casting, rolling and pipe production at a single site, allowing GMI to manufacture products from liquid steel to finished tubular products. The melt shop has a capacity of 1.2mn-1.4mn t/yr and will use scrap and other metallic feedstocks.
Steelmaking is supported by induction and electric arc furnaces, together with secondary metallurgy facilities including a ladle refining furnace, argon oxygen decarburisation and vacuum oxygen decarburisation units, GMI said.
GMI committed about $250mn to the first phase of the project and expects to invest a similar amount in the second phase. The company said key long-lead equipment has already been ordered, with phased commissioning scheduled from early to mid-2028.
GMI plans to supply semi-finished products such as blooms, billets and rounds, alongside finished flat and long products in carbon, stainless and alloy steel grades.
"We will be producing the steel that the UAE is currently importing, and not more of what it already makes," GMI chief executive Sameer Sharma said, adding that the project will reduce supply chain risks for UAE manufacturers.
GMI expects output to reach around 70,000 t/month by the end of the fourth quarter, and 100,000-120,000 t/month by mid-2027.
Most fourth-quarter production will initially comprise carbon steel, before it gradually expands into rolled flat and long products and stainless steel over the following quarters as investments are phased in, company sources said.
While GMI's focus is on specialty and alloy steel flat and long products, it will also supply commercial-grade billets to local mills in response to current domestic market conditions.
Seaborne billet trade to the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) region has been severely affected by the poor security conditions in the Red Sea and strait of Hormuz. Traders seeking to supply billet to GCC markets reported losing deals that were close to conclusion after Yemen's Houthi rebels seized territory on the shores of the Red Sea earlier in September, prompting some vessel owners to avoid certain ports.
Import market conditions for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in the GCC also remain challenging because of elevated freight costs, marine insurance issues, port congestion and demurrage charges.
GMI intends to source most of its metallic feedstocks domestically, but expects the UAE to begin importing scrap from early 2027 as growth in steel demand outpaces local scrap generation.
