News & Events

  • December 31, 2015

SOHAR commissions MEED Insight Report on 2016 Middle East Iron and Steel Industry

• SOHAR commissions a new series of thought leadership reports
• Construction accounts for 50% of global steel consumption
• Regional infrastructure spend will drive strong steel demand
 
MEED Insight has released the first in a series of independently written thought leadership reports, sponsored by SOHAR Port and Freezone. The ‘2016 Middle East Iron and Steel Industry Report’, was launched exclusively to over 700 delegates at the Middle East Iron and Steel Conference in Dubai today.
Speaking at Atlantis The Palm Dubai, Andre Toet, Chief Executive of SOHAR Port and Freezone, presented extracts from the MEED Report to regional and international industry delegates. According to the Report, huge infrastructure spending in the Middle East is driving strong regional demand for steel. Residential, commercial, as well as mixed-use and transport infrastructure projects, have the biggest share of projected activities in the GCC region.
However, despite strong demand from regional projects, steel producers in the GCC region continue to struggle as steel prices and premiums continue to decline, coupled with increased steel imports from China and Turkey.
The full report looks at iron and steel consumption across the region; detailing trends in the GCC iron and steel markets over the last ten years; investments in infrastructure; demand drivers; the industries that are driving demand; challenges to the GCC’s domestic iron and steel manufacturers; and opportunities in the market for the GCC region, Oman, and specifically, SOHAR.
Andre Toet was upbeat on the back of Sunday’s signing with Chinese steel manufacturers Changbao, for a new plant to be developed in SOHAR Freezone. The facility will manufacture seamless steel pipes and casings, the kind used extensively in the regional oil and gas industry. “The metals cluster in SOHAR continues to grow apace and we are increasingly seeing more synergies between raw material imports through the Port, our steel smelting, manufacturing and distribution industries."
Over the course of 2016, further reports will look at topics of particular relevance to SOHAR Port and Freezone, and the many industry verticals in which it operates. Andre Toet summed up: “We believe that the knowhow contained in reports of this kind can often be the spark behind sustainable change, and it’s this kind of innovation that we’ve set out to inspire."