EMIRATES Steel, the only integrated steel plant in the UAE, marked the completion of its Dh7-billion ($1.9 billion) Phase Two expansion programme at an event held recently on facility grounds in the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi (ICAD1).

Emirates Steel launched the two-phased, Dh10-billion ($2.72 billion) expansion programme in January 2006, completing Phase One in June 2009 at a cost of Dh3 billion ($816 million), which has more than doubled production capacity and made it the largest steel plant in the UAE, capable of manufacturing raw steel from iron oxide pellets.

“Phase Two has increased Emirates Steel’s total production capacity to 3.5 million tonnes per year (tpy),” revealed Hussain Al Nowais, chairman of General Holding Corporation (GHC), the parent company of Emirates Steel.

The development is part of the massive endeavour that is set to increase Emirate Steel’s production to around 5.5 million tpy within the next three years.