Al Gharbia Pipe Company plant, a joint venture between manufacturing conglomerate Senaat and two Japanese steel companies, will be operational in the second quarter this year, Senaat’s chief executive said at a media briefing in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

“The project is in the final stage and it’ll be operational in second quarter this year,” Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri, the CEO of Senaat said in response to Zawya’s question on the timing of the plant launch.

“Production has started. We’re bidding actually and we’re in the process of reaching out to various consumers,” he said.

Al Gharbia is the first industrial venture between Japan and the UAE taking place in the UAE, according to Senaat’s website, with the Abu Dhabi conglomerate holding a 51 per cent stake and Japan’s JFE Steel Corporation and Marubeni-Itochu Steel Inc holding 27 per cent and 22 per cent, respectively.

According to Senaat, the Al Gharbia venture will be the country’s first plant manufacturing large-diameter, thick wall, longitudinally-welded steel pipes to primarily serve the oil and gas transportation sector. It will also serve the construction and infrastructure sectors as secondary markets. Work started on the facility three years ago. (Read more here).

(Reporting by Nada Al Rifai; Editing by Michael Fahy)

(nada.rifai@refinitiv.com)

© ZAWYA 2019