Al Nasser Industrial Enterprises (Anie), one of the UAE’s leading private sector manufacturing companies, has launched the construction of two new manufacturing plants in the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi (ICAD 1) in Mussafah.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the two plants was held in late November in the presence of Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Planning & Economy Department and chairman of the Higher Corporation for Specialised Economic Zones (HCSEZ).
Anie chairman Abdulla Nasser Hawaileel Al Mansoori said: “The selection of the ICAD as the site for our manufacturing facilities recognises the excellent infrastructure and support provided by the HCSEZ to encourage manufacturing and industrial activity in Abu Dhabi.”
The two new plants will occupy 200,000 sq m and are expected to be commissioned by April 2008. One of the plants will be a HYL-ZR DRI (direct reduction iron) sponge iron plant with a capacity of 250,000 tonnes per year (tpy). The other plant will manufacture steel billets and have a capacity of 350,000 tpy.
“Our investment in these advanced manufacturing facilities represents a major backward integration for Anie’s steel manufacturing business and the resulting increase in our steel production capacity will make Anie the second largest integrated steel producer in the UAE,” said Al Mansoori.
He explained that Anie’s steel mills presently utilise steel billets purchased from the international market. However, with the commissioning of the new manufacturing facilities and the company’s backward integration into DRI and billets, Anie would reduce its dependence on the global market and leverage the local availability of raw material for steel manufacture.
Stating that Anie’s overall steel manufacturing capacity would be boosted by 400 per cent with this investment, Al Mansoori said the decision to invest in those two plants was a clear indication of the company’s intent to position itself as an integrated steel manufacturing company.
Pointing out that the aggressive growth of the UAE’s infrastructure sector had created a massive demand for steel, he stated that Anie was keen to play a key role in supporting the development of this sector. He also noted Anie’s ongoing investments would contribute to the economic diversification programme of the UAE.
Al Mansoori also said that HYL, Mexico, would supply, build and provide the technology for the DRI plant and GA Danieli would supply the furnace for the billet plant. The two projects would utilise 80 MW of power supplied by Adwea (Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority) and 9,000 mn btu of natural gas per day, which would be supplied by Adnoc.
Anie maintains investments in several companies in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman.
Anie was established in 1992 by Al Nasser Holdings to promote profitable industrial ventures and make a presence in the GCC region.
Currently Anie, employing about 1,000 personnel, has several operating ventures in diverse fields such as steel, structural fabrication and rolling, PE rotomolding, SMC panel production, biodegradable oil spill absorbents, power and distribution transformers and polymers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman. It is also committed to environmental protection, having a separate subsidiary achieving 100 per cent recycling and reuse of waste, the first of its kind in the Middle East.
The company has targeted a sales turnover of Dh1 billion ($272 million) in its Vision 2008.