UAE's Al Ghurair Steel says doubling output to combat dumping

The UAE’s Al Ghurair Iron & Steel LLC is doubling its steel production to meet growing demand in the Gulf and resist dumping by countries such as China and India, a senior company official said on
Monday.

The company, an 80:20 venture between Dubai's Al Ghurair group and Japan’s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp, expects to produce 400,000 tonnes of galvanised steel annually by the end of this year, up from 200,000 a few months ago, chief executive Abu Bucker Husain told reporters.

Husain said that despite an economic slowdown in the region due to low oil prices, steel demand was continuing to grow because of preparations for events including the 2020 Dubai Expo and the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament in Qatar.

Exports

About 55 percent of the company's production is exported, mainly to other Gulf markets and the wider Middle East and North Africa region. The remainder is sold within the UAE.

But Husain complained that his company and other UAE producers were struggling against dumping by producers in countries including China, India and Turkey. Al Ghurair Iron & Steel is increasing its output partly to avoid losing market share to the dumping, he said.