Agreements signed for steel plant
Al Ghaith Holdings, a family-owned UAE company, has signed agreements with Midrex Technologies of USA and Vai Fuchs of Germany for the supply of the direct reduced iron (DRI) technology and a ‘mini’ mill for its planned Dh514 million ($139.9 million) integrated steel plant in Abu Dhabi.

The Midrex agreement includes the supply of equipment consisting of a DRI module, an electric arc furnace, a ladle furnace, a de-dusting system and a continuous casting machine. The equipment is state of the art and process control is achieved through a modern automation system.
The integrated steel facility will import iron ore and export hot bricketed iron (HBI) and semi-finished steel billets.
The project is designed to produce ultimately 500,000 tonnes of DRI and HBI including 300,000 tonnes of billets.
Ali Hamil Al Ghaith, chairman of Al Ghaith Holdings, has said there is a shortfall of around five million tonnes of steel per year in the Gulf region.
Steel consumption in the UAE is estimated at 1.2 to 1.3 million tonnes per year and billet consumption around 600,000 tonnes per year.
Al Ghaith Group has interests in banking, real estate, oil field services and manufacturing industries.

Mammut to open pre-cast unit
The Mammut Group, among the largest pre-engineering steel manufacturers in the UAE, has announced plans to set up a large pre-cast production facility for the construction industry in Dubai.
The new facility, biggest of its kind in the Gulf region, will have four million sq m of panel capacity. Mammut has signed a contract with Sommer of Germany for the Dh200 million ($54.4 million) project, which will be commissioned in two phases.
The group has also tied up with Canadian firm TMCP for a patented panel technology, which will enhance the construction process and reduce manpower requirements. Behzad Daniel Ferdows, managing partner of Mammut, said the group planned to carry out a further expansion, increasing capacity by another two million sq m in the third phase of the project.
The new production facility will be commissioned in the autumn. At full production, the plant will have a capacity of four million sq m of panels a year. Sommer, which specialises in production technology and automation systems for the pre-cast concrete industry, will supply the technology to Mammut’s factory.
The new factory will produce a variety of pre-cast panels including insulated double-wall sandwich panels.
Ferdows said new technology that Mammut was introducing would have great advantages.  “This will bring in speed and flexibility along with superior insulation and load-bearing capability in building construction,” he said.

Iranian firm to open jet print facility
Carton Plast, an Iranian company, plans to open a jet print facility in Dubai to serve a growing Gulf market.
The company currently manufacturers polypropylene corrugated sheets and operates a four-colour silk screen-printing unit in Iran.
General manager Masoud Bahroloumi said investment in the Dubai plant would be around $500,000 and enable the company to print directly onto its polypropylene sheets to better serve its customers needs.
The plan was outlined at the Sign & Graphic Imaging Middle East 2004 trade show held in January at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre.
Bahroloumi said his business had prospered over the past year since his company first took part in the show. “We see this investment as a way of taking the business even further,” he remarked.

Trinidad firm takes stake
Oman Methanol Company said a Trinidad and Tobago firm took the biggest stake in its $426 million methanol plant, which is due to be built by 2006 in the northeast city of Sohar.
A company statement said Methanol Holding (Trinidad) now has 50 per cent ownership of the company while local group Omzest has 30 per cent. Germany’s Ferrostaal AG has the remaining stake.
The statement added that the 5,000-tonnes-per-day plant would be completed by the end of 2006. The project, first conceived in 1999, suffered delays due to logistic problems and the pullout of state-owned Oman Oil Company (OOC) from the venture.

Gamco doubling maintenance capacity
Gulf Aircraft Maintenance Company (Gamco) has plans to double its maintenance capacity in the next five years from nine lines to about 15.
Kirubel Tegene, manager of commercial sales, said the company would require substantial funds to implement its plans and would meet its needs from internal sources.
Tegene also said Gamco estimated its business would grow by seven per cent this year against growth of around three per cent in the global aircraft maintenance industry. 
To accommodate the growing maintenance requirements of aircraft in the Middle East and Europe, the company plans to have a special paint hangar this year, which will cost around $5 million to $6 million.  It already has a paint hangar for smaller and medium-size aircraft.   
 Gamco currently has the capacity to maintain almost all types of Airbus aircraft as well as some Boeing units. It is equipped to maintain the Boeing 737, 757 and 767. In the case of Boeing 747, Gamco does minor check-ups.
Also this year, it plans to develop a full maintenance capability for Boeing 747s.

Al Rawabi plans Oman venture
Dubai-based Al Rawabi is planning to set up a dairy farm in Oman. Al Rawabi territory manager Kingston Fernandez said discussions were in an advanced stage towards establishing the farm.
The company will initially procure fresh milk from the dairy and process it in its plant in Dubai. Subsequently, a processing plant will be set up in Oman, Fernandez said.
The summertime shortage of fresh milk experienced in the region will be addressed significantly with the new facility, the officia added.
Al Rawabi is a 12-year old company with 50 per cent of the stake owned by the Dubai government and the remaining 50 per cent by private investors, including the Arab Authority for Agriculture Investment and Development (AAAID).
AAAID, a leading pan-Arab financial institution, had earlier announced it would take a 20 per cent equity stake in an integrated desert dairy project in Dhofar region. The, Dhofar dairy project, however, is yet to make headway.
Oman’s market size is estimated at 100,000 litres per day, including milk, laban and yoghurt.
Al Rawabi accounts for 25,000 litres of milk and associated products, ranking number two in the country, Fernandez said.
He said Al Rawabi was the brand leader in fresh juices, which have a 20-day shelf life.