Thursday, Apr 26, 2012
Dubai There is nothing like the present to launch a project, or so it seems. Prices of key building materials have been holding up since the start of the year, largely by a marked drop in demand from China.
For a commodity such cement, new capacities are coming up in the Gulf and the immediate neighbourhood, which would be able to feed a major portion of the region’s demand in the medium term.
And when it comes to that other key building material, steel, the capacities — and massive ones at that — are already there.
“Steel prices have not firmed up remarkably this year; there are slight variations of up to 2 per cent which is normal,” said Farouk K. Toukan of Abu Dhabi based Cicon.
“This has nothing to do with the China market. Steel prices in the GCC — and particularly in the UAE — are determined by the regional producers like Emirates Steel Industries, Sabic, Qatar Steel Company and the many Turkish steel mills.”
By Manoj Nair?Associate Editor
Gulf News 2012. All rights reserved.
