Hamriyah Free Zone (HMZ) is set to make a greater contribution to the UAE’s industrialisation with new projects announced in recent months in a range of sectors.

Among recent investors attracted by the incentives, infrastructure and facilities of the 15 million sq m free zone is prominent Saudi industrial group Al Tuwairqi. It joins some 900 other companies from 77 countries operating in the industrial park. 
The Dammam-based company announced a few weeks ago it would set up a 1.2 million sq m steel complex at the free zone. Named ATG Heavy Industries, the complex will consist of a profile factory with associated automatic fabrication and welding, a DRI plant, a billet plant and a rolling mill as well as a 300 MW power generation unit.
The Hamriyah project is part of a $820 million investment the group is making in the UAE.
The ATG Heavy Industries project, already under construction, will help meet demand for certain categories of heavy steel structures, which Al Tuwairqi said were not produced by regular pre-engineering facilities in the region.
The complex’s products will be custom-designed heavy steel structures used in high-rise buildings, bridges, oil rigs, airports and other load-bearing structures. These will help meet demand from contractors in the UAE and neighbouring states implementing huge infrastructure, industrial, commercial and residential projects.
Come January, ATG’s profile factory will be ready, while the DRI plant and the billet plant will go on stream by the end of 2006.
Al Tuwairqi Group has emerged over the past 28 years as an important player in Saudi industry through its involvement in contracting, trading and manufacturing and its success in developing markets well beyond Saudi Arabia’s borders. The flagship of the group is Al Ittefaq Steel Products Factory (ISPF).  Other manufacturing concerns include National Steel and Iron Factory, Space Frames Manufacturing Factory and International Electrical Products.
Hamriyah Free Zone joyfully announced last July that a $200 million ammonia and urea plant would be set up in the zone by the Muscat-based Oman Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd (OCPL).
This was quite a scoop for Hamriyah as free zones in Oman itself are feverishly seeking tenants and are on a marketing campaign towards that end.
OCPL also signed a 25-year agreement with Sharjah-based Crescent Petroleum for the supply of natural gas. Describing the OCPL project, Dr Rashid Al Leem, director general of Hamriyah Free Zone Authority, said it would be one of the largest in the enclave with the first-phase production of 400,000 tonnes of ammonia per year commencing by April 2007. The production of urea and other products in phase 2 would start the following year.
The company will meet its own needs of ammonia and have a surplus of 75 per cent left for exports. Total turnover is expected to top $80 million a year. Ammonia as a raw material has a number of users including pharmaceutical plants.
The plant will need some 45 million standard cu ft of gas per day and this will be available cheaply.
After the urea plant comes on stream, the company begins production of nitric acid, ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulphate.
Mammut Building Systems is another prominent tenant of Hamriyah Free Zone. The company, one of the region’s largest manufacturers of pre-engineered steel buildings (PEBs) and polyurethane sandwich panels, has expanded to bring its monthly frames capacity from 3,000 tonnes to 4,500 tonnes. Total monthly production capacity for products including secondary members, single-skin cladding and sandwich panels has risen from 5,000 tonnes to 7,500 tonnes.
During the last three to four years, the company recruited the most experienced management staff in the industry and succeeded in capturing 65 per cent of the UAE’s market for PEBs. But with demand growing, there were constraints on capacity, leading to the decision to go in for an expansion.
Mammut is optimistic that the PEB and polyurethane sandwich panels markets in the region will continue to be strong in the next two to three years and expects to maintain its market share. Among the projects it has completed are the Adpico factory in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi; Textile City in Al Aweer, Dubai; the Arabian Pipes Factory in Jubail, Saudi Arabia; and an RAK Ceramics factory in Ras Al Khaimah.
One of the recent facilities erected at HMZ is Riviera Pool Middle East’s boat-building yard. The company invested $6 million in the project, which entails an area of 50,000 sq m with a waterfront of 150 m. The complex includes a main administration building, workshops for mechanical, electrical and carpentry works and sheds for building boats and yachts exceeding 150 ft. 
Another project dubbed “strategic” has commenced at the free zone. Sharjah Pipeline Co LLC (SPC) signed a lease agreement with HFZ to build a jet fuel storage facility in the free zone that will be linked directly to Sharjah International Airport (SIA) by a 41 km pipeline.
“We are delighted with the decision by the Sharjah Pipeline Company (SPC) to construct its facility in the Hamriyah Free Zone. As the Hamriyah Free Zone Authority, our role is to provide all investors with world-class facilities and a well-developed infrastructure to support their business needs,” Sheikh Khaled bin Abdullah Al Qasimi of HFZ stated.
Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi of SPC commented:  “This project is strategic for the Emirate of Sharjah in terms of providing the necessary infrastructure for supporting the Emirates’ growing aviation section.”
Under the terms of the agreement SPC will build a four-tank, 50,000 tonne storage facility in the HFZ to be named Anabeeb, which is Arabic for pipeline. The facility will include construction of import facilities at Hamriyah Port for discharging fuel from supply vessels.
Covering an area of 45,000 sq m, Anabeeb facilities will cost $32 million including the pipeline to SIA.
They have been designed with health, safety and environmental considerations in mind and incorporate some of the latest technology and monitoring equipment. The project will also eliminate some 50 round trips by fuel tankers on Sharjah’s roads daily.
Mott MacDonald Limited is in charge of design and construction management while Sharjah-based contractors have been awarded the actual construction work. Work will commence in November this year with completion and commissioning expected in October 2006.
The free zone is gearing itself to meet the challenges of tomorrow.  Sharjah Ports Authority is considering building a container terminal in HFZ, which is now served by a 14-m-deep port.