UAE steel manufacturers concern over rebar, pipe imports

Juma Al Mansouri, vice president sales at Emirates Steel Industries, Karim Mohammed Toumi of the UAE Ministry of Economy, Bharat Bhatia, Mohammed Salem Al Afari - VP Marketing at Emirates Steel Industries; and Vivek Bhatia - Business Development Manager of Conares participating in the first edition of 'Magnet' held in Dubai recently.

Local producers of steel rebars and Electric Resistance Welded (ERW) steel pipes are increasingly concerned over growing imports paring the local consumption and hence have come together under a initiative called 'Magnet' which represent industry issues.
Conares, the second largest private steel manufacturer in the UAE, has initiated 'Magnet', a platform to discuss and disseminate insights on the steel industry. The first edition of the 'Magnet' was held in Dubai recently with the participation of key industry stakeholders including Emirates Steel, Conares, Hamriyah Steel, and Union Iron & Steel. In the presence of a representative from the UAE Ministry of Economy as an observer, the meeting touched on a range of key issues on the market such as rebar imports, market trends, product costing, promotion of local products and so on.
Participating in the meeting, the local steel producers highlighted that despite the strict implementation of customs duty of five per cent on imports of steel rebar and wire rod, there is an upsurge of rebar imports in the UAE from non-GCC countries. Emphasising that the UAE is the foremost importing country and targeted market within the region, as the UAE's imports of steel rebar are significantly higher than the other GCC countries.
Speaking after the meeting, the Ministry of Economy' representative emphasised that several decisions were taken by the Council of Ministers upon recommendation of the Ministry of Economy with the view to encourage using made in UAE products and reflecting a strong support to promote the industrial sector that will eventually contribute to the growth of UAE Economy.
In fact, the Council of Ministers' decision No 85/4w/2 of 2015 issued the common rules for giving a price preference of 10 per cent in governmental procurements to domestic products as compared to foreign products. Additionally, in relation to the steel sector, the Council of Ministers for development issued its decision No 24/2t/2 of 2016 with the main objective to discourage consultancy offices from requiring the use of foreign steel when preparing the tender documentation for construction projects.
It is also very important to recall the Council of Ministers Decision No 55/4w/3 of 2016 establishing the Industrial Coordination Council in the UAE which will work in close partnership with all industries to hear their concerns and translate them into plans and strategies to promote the UAE industrial sector based on the great importance placed on industry by the directives of the UAE top leadership.
Bharat Bhatia, CEO of Conares, said: "Establishing the Industrial Coordination Council has been encouraging to reform the industrial footprint of the UAE. The Ministry of Economy, which also chairs the Industrial Council, had been immensely supportive implementing the custom duty of five per cent on imports of steel rebar and wire rod, helping the local steel producers to offer their products with the best quality and on competitive prices."
Construction companies, developers and traders need to turn to the locally manufactured, labelled as 'Made in UAE', since steel products which are more reliable than imports that usually take minimum of 30 days to arrive in the UAE. 
"However, the rebar imports continue to create an imbalance to operate heavy industries, impacting economy of the region. The UAE has a combined capacity to produce five million tons of steel rebars annually, which is more than sufficient to meet current demands of the country needing 3.5 to four million tonnes annually," Bhatia added.
 
Steel pipe imports 
Magnet conducted its second meeting on Monday over steel pipe manufacturers expressing concern over imports coming in to UAE and hitting the product quality. Most producers of ERW steel pipes echoed their problems of over only 50 per cent capacity being put to use while the imports were eating into their business in the region. - sandhya@khaleejtimes.com