MUSCAT -- Sister Omani companies Sohar Steel and Sharq Sohar Steel Rolling Mills (SSSRM) are undertaking a major expansion and upgrade of their manufacturing facilities in support of a key national objective: helping the Sultanate achieve self-sufficiency in the domestic production of reinforcing bars (rebars), which is of vital importance to the country's booming construction and infrastructure sectors. While Sohar Steel is expanding the capacity of its Steel Melt Shop (SMS) at Sohar Port, Sharq Sohar is undertaking an upgrade of its facilities at the nearby Sohar Industrial Estate. Both investments will help reinforce the group's overall standing as the Sultanate's leading producer of rebars.
"With the expanded production capacity of steel, the entire domestic requirement of this commodity will be fully met, thereby eliminating the need for imports. Thus, our project will not only contribute to making Oman self-sufficient in rebar manufacturing capacity, but it will also catalyse the growth of various related industries and businesses, as well as open up employment opportunities for Omani nationals," said Khalid Tawfiq Jawad Abdul Rasool, Chairman. Set on a 29-hectare plot within Sohar Port, Sohar Steel's Melt Shop is backward integrated unit with a rolling mill operated by sister firm Sharq Sohar. All of Sohar Steel's present output of roughly 300,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of mild steel billets is consumed by Sharq Sohar's rolling mill to produce rebars for the domestic and regional markets.
But with domestic demand for construction steel growing by leaps and bounds, the group has embarked on a major expansion and upgrade of its facilities. The centrepiece Melt Shop of Sohar Steel at the industrial port is the subject of a major upgrade that will see capacity ramped up from the present 300,000 MT/year to an impressive 700,000 MT/year. The new capacity is slated to be brought into operation starting from the third quarter of this year, subject to the receipt of final environmental clearances from the relevant authorities, said G N Khadse, CEO, Sohar Steel. At the same time, a newly acquired rolling mill set up in the UAE emirate of Ras Al Khaimah is being refurbished and relocated to Sohar Steel's complex. Boasting a capacity of 500,000 MT/year of rolled products, the plant is a continuous rolling mill-type facility with slitting technology and online TMT process features.
At the heart of the facility is a highly fuel efficient walking beam type billet heating furnace supplied by Bendotti of Italy. "The steel mill owned by RAK Steel is quite brand new with technology and production capacity matching with the requirement of Sohar Steel. Given these characteristics, it was eminently feasible and cost-effective for us to shift, upgrade, commission, and ultimately bring this mill to commercialisation in a timely and efficient manner, rather than go in for a new mill altogether based on equipment from a different supplier," Khadse stated. Output from the upgraded Melt Shop will serve as feedstock for the existing rolling mill of Sharq Sohar Steel Rolling Mills, as well as the new rolling mill nearing completion at the industrial port. According to the CEO, the additional output will enable the manufacture of different billet sizes, while the group will also be able to exercise better control in the size distribution of rebars at either rolling mill.
© Oman Daily Observer 2014
