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Al Tuwairqi Group unveils $300m project in Pakistan

DUBAI — AI Tuwairqi Group of Companies, one of the Ieading business concerns in Saudi Arabia, has launched a $300 million steel mills project at Bin Qasim in the southern port city of Karachi.

The group will set up Tuwairqi Steel Mills (TSM), a state-of-the-art steel-making plant over 220 acres, and introduce the most advanced Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) technology in Pakistan.

In the first phase, one million tonne per annum DRI plant was scheduled to be completed in 18 to 24 months at a cost of around $130 million.

In the second phase, to be completed by March 2009 with an additional expenditure of $170 million, the plant would start making steel billets mainly used in making rebars, wire rods, heavy structures, seamless pipes and other construction materials.

The production capacity of the plant could be expanded from one million to 1.5 million tonnes per annum in the near future. The ground-breaking ceremony of the plant held yesterday at the Bin Qasim which was addressed by the President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf.

Using the world’s most advanced DRI technology, the plant will produce direct reduced iron through the MIDREX process. This route of steel making eliminates several steps which otherwise are required in the traditional blast furnace technology.

Tuwairqi Steel Mills has chosen state-of-the-art technology MIDREX, a direct reduction process which uses natural gas to convert iron ore into direct reduced iron. This process is considered a reliable, efficient and cost effective method and accounts for over 60 per cent of the current world production of direct reduced iron.

AI Tuwairqi Group of Companies, is one of the Ieading business concerns in Saudi Arabia and the largest private sector steel producer in the kingdom.

With an annual turnover of SR1.5 billion, the group is among top five Saudi industrial companies in the private sector. It has seven large industrial units in Saudi Arabia and United Kingdom. The group has two mega steel projects, one each in Dammam and Sharjah.

Meanwhile, Tuwairqi Steel Mills Limited and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) signed the Head of Terms (HOT) that would lead to a General Sales Agreement (GSA) between the two companies, for the supply of natural gas over a 10 year period, with the option to extend the arrangement for another 10 years.

The HOT was signed on Wednesday at a local hotel by Munawar B. Ahmad, Managing Director, SSGC, and Dr Helal Hussain, Chairman Al Tuwairqi Group of Companies. Mohammad Tariq Barlas, Vice-Chairman and Zaigham Rizvi, Project Director, Tuwairqi Steel Mills, and SSGC senior officials were also present on the occasion.

The HOT that has been signed was first cleared by the respective Boards and the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority.