Dubai-based Emarat Dzayer Group to set up Dh5.87 billion steel plant in Algeria

Plant to produce 1.5 MTPA of DRI and 1 MTPA of steel.

Emarat Dzayer Group, a Dubai-based diversified business conglomerate, and Groupe Imetal, a Government of Algeria undertaking, have signed an agreement to develop a $1.6 billion (Dh5.87 billion) steel plant in Algeria’s Annaba Province.

The agreement was signed on Tuesday (November 22, 2016) in Algeria, on the sidelines of the Algerian-Emirati Investment Forum in the presence of Abdel Malek Sellal, Prime Minister of Algeria, Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE and Minister for Presidential Affairs, Abdeslam Bouchouareb, Algeria's Minister of Industry and Mines, and other ministers and dignitaries from Algeria and the UAE, at a signing ceremony.


The agreement will create Emarat Dzayer Steel Company, a joint venture in which Groupe Imetal will hold 51 per cent stake through its two subsidiaries – Naftal (41%) and Asimdal (10%) – and the rest 49 per cent will be held by Emarat Dzayer Group.

The announcement is part of a series of ten agreements between Algerian and UAE firms, both public and private sector organisations, which creates a win-win situation for both the countries.

Emarat Dzayer Steel Company will produce 1.5 million tonnes of directly reduced iron (DRI) per year and 1 million tonnes of steel in the form of rails, steel structures and seamless pipes. The total cost of the project is estimated to be around US$1.6 billion (Dh5.87 billion). The value added products of this plant will generate and save foreign exchange reserve, and thereby support the local economic growth.

The bilateral trade between Algeria and the UAE stood at Dh3.6 billion in 2015 and the UAE investments in Algeria amounted to more than $9 billion. Abdesselam Bouchouareb, Algerian Minister of Industry and Mines, said the country is seeking to double the UAE investments to around $20 billion (Dh73.4 billion) in the medium term.

The technology will be sourced from highly specialised international technology companies from countries such as Germany, Italy, USA and Japan, and will generate jobs for local population.

Ahmed Yazid Touati, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Groupe Imetal, expressed his gratitude for the venture. “The peoples of Algeria and the UAE enjoy a very close relationship. I strongly feel that this value-added steel plant will be self-sufficient to meet the local demand and help our national economy,” he said.

The companies have also signed a second agreement for oil distribution with Naftal – a state-owned company for oil distribution and Asmidal – a government-owned manufacturing company for petrochemicals. The joint venture will set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing, blending and packaging facilities of lubricants and industrial lube oils catering auto, aviation, marine and industrial sectors. This project will be first of its kind in Algeria and will meet the growing local demand and will export to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Ahmed Hasan Abdul Qaher Al Sheebani, Chairman of Emarat Dzayer Group, said, “The UAE and Algeria are two brotherly countries and I am very happy that this will create greater partnership. Algeria is abundant in natural resources, energy and market whereas the UAE has knowledge and technological skills. Therefore, they are natural partners to develop the industrial sector as a whole for mutual interest.”

According to Ajay Sethi, Vice Chairman of Emarat Dzayer Group, Emarat Dzayer Steel Company will support Algeria’s fastest growing infrastructure projects, as well as export for sustainable development.

“We are very pleased to have inked our partnership with a national company like Naftal, which has very strong distribution network, and Asimdal, which comes with great industrial experience in Algeria,” Ajay Sethi said after the signing of the agreement.

“We see a great opportunity for growth and progress in Algeria and feel proud to have Groupe Imetal, Naftal and Asmidal as partners that are bound to create a new chapter in the Algerian steel industry. The project will also accelerate the growth of the industrial sector in the UAE and Algeria.”