Conares, Dubai-based manufacturer of steel pipes and rebars, is on track to complete its new pipe mill.

Bharat Bhatia, CEO, Conares, said trials would begin by the end of this year and deliveries could materialise at the end of the first quarter of 2016.

 Conares is the second largest private steel manufacturer in the region. The company, having earmarked an additional Dh200 million ($54.45 million) of investments at its facility in Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) for the next five years, is moving steadily towards becoming a 1 million tonne steel manufacturer.

“With the lined expansions, the responsibility has always been to deliver. Once operational, we hope to achieve maximum utilisation of our production capacities,” Bhatia said.

“The expansion is aimed at serving the domestic market as well as exploring export opportunities. This would help us meet the demand for infrastructure development activities ongoing in Dubai to prepare for hosting Expo 2020. The rapidly growing demand for construction material including iron and steel opens huge opportunities for Conares not only in the UAE but also in the entire region that Jafza as a hub serves,” he said.

Once the process of plant expansion is completed, Conares intends to diversify its product portfolio, which is backed by future expansions. When it comes to investments, Conares is on track to invest an additional Dh200 million in this region from its existing capital investment of approximately Dh900 million.

The company has more than tripled its production capacity in the last 10 years and made strategic investments in Jafza that helped it expand its market share regionally. The products and plant achieved a number of major global certifications and recognitions which have been accepted across regional projects.

SUSTAINABILITY AND GROWTH

Focusing on sustainable infrastructure development, Conares introduced galvanised rebars, a first-of-its-kind sustainable approach in the Middle East region towards infrastructure development.

Bhatia: sustainability is an important consideration

With this new approach in corrosion protection for steel reinforcement in concrete, Conares joins the global sustainability efforts to address the issue of corrosion that adversely affects the sustainability of the construction industry. “The new system in the steel industry with advanced procedures will bring an evolution in the tools and techniques of the industry. Galvanising rebars is a process, which has been widely adapted in key developed countries with the forward thinking of sustainability and building life cycles,” commented Bhatia.

“Keeping the vision of UAE and Dubai, we expect to multiply our revenues to exceed the Dh2 billion mark. In terms of facility growth, we are aligning Conares with the region’s commitment to infrastructure developments. The Vision 2021 for Conares is crucial to make it a manufacturing powerhouse,” he said.

Conares is keen that it caters to increased rebar requirements, keeping in mind possible developments that will come into place by the end of this year.

“If these positive developments fall into place, we can say that the local demand can conservatively grow at single digits,” said Bhatia.

LOCAL AND EXPORT MARKETS

“We aim to have a wider market presence based on the product which is why we have a certain percentage of exports outside the region. Pipes, a product for global markets, stand at 40 per cent of our export percentage. Rebars, being a regional product, are 75 per cent of our production and allotted to the local and regional markets. We intend to maintain the same strategy for the coming year as well,” he said.

An example of the company’s products

The rebars represent about 20 per cent of the UAE market share and pipes cater to 25 per cent of total market demand in the region.

He further said: “Our recent expansion has been aimed at serving the domestic market as well as exploring export opportunities. This would help us meet the demand for infrastructure developmental activities ongoing in Dubai to prepare for hosting Expo 2020. The rapidly growing demand for construction material including iron and steel opens huge opportunities for Conares not only in the UAE but also in the entire region that Jafza as a hub serves.

“Even though we are active stakeholders in the construction industry, our engagement with end-users or project promoters is minimal. There have been instances of promoters rescheduling their payments but their volumes are negligible.”

The company was established in 1988 in the Jebel Ali Free Zone.  Employing over 500 staff, and covering an area of 1.5 million sq ft, the Conares facility has an annual manufacturing capacity of 500,000 tonnes of steel rebars and 250,000 tonnes of steel pipes. Additional 250,000 tonnes will be added to steel pipes by the end of Q1, 2016 as per the expansion.