Recently built-up capacity has put coils manufacturer Universal Metal Coating Co Ltd (Unicoil) in a strong position to realise significant increases in sales revenues and contribute to import substitution.

In 2007 the company commissioned a 250,000 tonnes per year (tpy) cold steel complex in Jubail to produce galvanised steel coils. The plant joined a pre-painted steel and aluminium coils facility of 120,000 tpy. Also that year the company acquired SIDC Metal Coating Co Ltd, whose facility in Jeddah has an annual capacity of 85,000 tonnes.
Production this year is targeted at nearly 221,500 tonnes, a 17 per cent increase over last year, while revenues are planned to reach nearly SR969 million, up 26 per cent over 2007, Unicoil president Fahad Al Thukair said.
The company had reported production of 72,653 tonnes and revenues of approximately SR286 million in 2006.
Al Thukair said the new cold steel complex was “strategic for the Saudi private sector’s industrial growth.”
The complex was built at an investment of SR600 million with a focus on both commercial and industrial sectors in the GCC and overseas markets, Al Thukair said.
It is described as a state-of-the-art facility incorporating a push-pull pickling line, single-stand cold reversing mill and a continuous hot dip galvanising line along with slitting, recoiling and inspection line.  The plant uses hot rolled coils as feed material.
Commenting on the facility, Al Thukair remarked: “The in-house production of GI coils has given Unicoil a unique capability to exercise full control over quality, cost reduction and timely supplies for the benefit of customers. Additionally, it is also contributing to the development of the Saudi and regional markets and helping save precious foreign exchange through import substitution.”
The official said the cold steel complex and the SIDC acquisition would enable Unicoil to confront better the local and overseas competition.
When Unicoil began operations in the late 1990s it was the first in the region to manufacture pre-painted steel and aluminium coils. It is a joint venture between Zamil Group Holding and the Rashed Al Rashed Group.
It has capability to produce a wide range of galvanised steel coils and sheets including special grades and prepaint  a full range of  coils that include galvanised steel, zinc aluminium coated steel, CR steel and aluminium  meeting all international standards, particularly ASTM, EN, JIS, NCCA/ECCA.
Grades in pre-painted steel coils and low/thin gauge galvanized steel coils are MGalvan, ColRite and MLawan. Raw material for its plants is sourced in Hadeed of Saudi Arabia and in the markets of Japan, Korea and China.
The company’s products go beyond the GCC area to Africa, Europe and Asia. National markets include Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, Poland, Iran, China and the UK and US.
It has expanded almost 10-fold since 1998, increasing production from 26,000 tonnes to 221,000 tonnes and sales from SR63 million to SR969 million.
Discussing strategy for the short term, Al Thukair said it would be geared towards achieving an annual capacity of 5 million tonnes through expansions, building new facilities including upstream ones and diversifying the steel product range  through acquisitions.