With a view to expanding its global footprint, Essar Steel Processing and Distribution (ESPD), a part of steel major Essar Steel Ltd, on Monday announced the commissioning of a service centre facility at Dubai. It will cater to the needs of customers of customised steel products in West Asia and neighbouring regions.
The Essar Steel complex at Hazira, Gujarat, houses a five million tonnes per annum (mtpa) sponge iron plant, the world's largest gas-based sponge iron plant in a single location. Besides, the company has a plate mill with a capacity of 1.5 mtpa and a pipe mill with a capacity of 0.6 mtpa as well at Hazira.
The Dubai facility will be the third after those in the UK for the European region and in Indonesia that caters to the East Asian market.
With this, ESPD has ramped up its international service centre capacity to one MTPA, Mr Vikram Amin, Executive Director (Sales & Marketing), said in a statement here.
Processing capacity
The Dubai facility has a processing capacity of 2.5 lakh tonnes a year. Processed material will be shipped to countries such as Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain by road. For local customers of the UAE, who are currently dependent on imports, ESPD Dubai will supply just-in-time deliveries.
Essar Steel will make shipments from its 10-mtpa plant at Hazira to the ESPD at Dubai for providing custom-made steel products.
ESPD, the flat steel processing arm of Essar Steel, is targeting to become a 5-mtpa capacity servicing chain. It currently operates 3.3 mtpa capacity in India with seven service centre, besides one mtpa capacity internationally with three service centres.
Essar Steel, part of Essar Global Ltd, is a fully-integrated flat carbon steel manufacturer—from iron ore to ready-to-market products, and has a current capacity of 10 mtpa.