Universal Rolling (Unirol) is setting up a state-of the-art steel rolling mill – the first of its kind in Bahrain – to meet the soaring demand for rebar used in construction in the country, according to managing director Mazen Al Mahroos.

“Bahrain imports all its requirements for rebar and given the boom in construction – which has made such a project necessary – we are setting up a plant to meet the local rebar requirements,” he says.
“When the project was first conceptualized in January 2002, we had plans for a 100,000 tonnes per year (tpy) facility. However, demand has surged to such an extent that midway during construction we have decided to boost the capacity to 170,000 tpy,” he adds.
Construction work on the facility – over a 25,000 sq m site in the Hidd Industrial Area – started in late 2003, following completion of reclamation works, and Al Mahroos expects the rolling mill to begin trial runs this summer, initially producing 100,000 tpy of rebar in the first year and up to 170,000 tpy in second year. The rebar of mild steel and stainless steel, ranging in diameter from 8 mm to 32 mm, will be produced using the latest TMT (thermo mechanical treatment) technology in this field from Germany. Raw materials will be procured from available sources in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and possibly Qatar.
The facility also has a large stockyard, which can hold of 10,000 tonnes of rebar at a time.
The consultants for the project is Herbert Rothe Consulting Engineers, and Heppe of Germany, which have custom-designed the facility in a “cost-effective manner”, according to Al Mahroos.
“By launching production of rebar in the Bahrain market we expect to offer traders and end-users a number of financial and service-related benefits in addition to cost savings in inventory and transportation for the local traders, which will in turn benefit the end users in Bahrain. In addition, Unirol will be in a position to supply orders within a week directly to site, instead of the current two to three months lead time, thus saving traders the hassle of issuing letters of credit (LCs) well in advance, as well as the need for storage space of a further two to three months stock,” he points out. “This apart, they will also benefit from our unmatchable after-sales service where we would be able respond within 24 to 48 hours, in the event of any complaints of defects or damage to our rebar.”
Al Mahroos continues: “Unirol is currently in touch with the main steel retailers in Bahrain to ensure that the end-users benefit from the existence of Unirol and to serve the Bahrain market and economy in a positive way. We intend to complement the services offered by the local market such as the cut-and-bent rebar fabricators with a local supply of material, which would be quick, superior, and reasonably priced. Also as a result of this venture 200 direct jobs will be created.”
From the outset, Unirol has placed a great deal of emphasis on quality, he says. “Our products will conform to BS4449 as well as ASTM A615 standards and we will also look to getting our facilities and products internationally certified, once we are up and running this year,” Al Mahroos concludes.