A consortium comprising SMS Group and Larsen & Toubro has been awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by Al Gharbia Pipe Company for its new steel pipe plant.

The SMS Group and Larsen & Toubro will jointly be responsible for constructing the complete plant on a turnkey basis, according to Al Gharbia Pipe Company, a joint venture between one of the UAE’s largest industrial holding companies (51 per cent) and two of Japan’s leading companies in the steel sector, JFE Steel Corporation and Marubeni-Itochu Steel.

Located in the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), the facility will be the UAE’s first sour service capable, longitudinally welded steel pipe manufacturing plant when operations are formally launched in 2018.

Al Gharbia Pipe Company’s production capacity is set to reach 240,000 tonnes annually, targeting the UAE market as well as neighbouring markets in the GCC and greater Middle East and East Africa. It will manufacture and sell large-diameter, high-quality, sour grade longitudinally submerged arc welded (LSAW) steel pipes that cater chiefly to the oil and gas sector.

Material grades produced will be capable of minimising corrosion associated with sour environments, which are increasingly becoming the norm in the area’s gas exploration projects.

“Commencing work on Al Gharbia Pipe Company demonstrates further progress being made on supporting the implementation of Abu Dhabi’s Economic Vision; and building the foundations necessary to manufacture industrial products that will reinforce the UAE’s position on the international map,” said Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri, acting CEO at Senaat.

The SMS-L&T consortium has a proven track record in this specialised line of work, and we have all the confidence that they are the right partners in furthering our role in diversifying national economy,” Al Dhaheri concluded.