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Assembling the 120 tonne EAF at United Steel Co, Bahrain (Sulb)
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The Sulb mini-mill includes an effcient dedusting plant
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110393-AnsaldoNidec215x280-Metals.indd 1 29-11-2012 12:55:06
Middle East Steel 2012
Project review
December 2012 | Middle East Steel | 17
fnal quarter of 2013. The Danieli-built meltshop
will be fed directly by hot DRI, and comprise a
150-tonne EAF, a 150-tonne ladle furnace, a
200-tonne twin-tank vacuum degasser, and a 2
million tpy 6-strand billet/bloom caster. The
associated infrastructure also includes an air
separation plant, a 4,800 cu metre/day
desalination plant and extensive port facilities.
The semis produced will be initially targeted
mainly at the Saudi market, as well as domestic
re-rollers supplying Omans infrastructure
projects. In time, however, it is planned that
much of the billet produced will be taken up by
a 1 million tpy rolling mill for rebar and merchant
bar, plus a seamless pipe mill, which are
expected to start around 2015. These represent a
$400 million investment, while the meltshop is
put at $475 million.
Jindal foresees the DRI plant expanding from
1.5 million to 5 million tpy over the next fve
years, which will be fed by a 7 million tpy iron
ore pelletizing plant now in the planning stage.
Like several steel mills in the region, Omans
Sohar Steel started out as a pure rolling mill for
rebar, and has since integrated back into
steelmaking. The rolling company, Sharq Sohar
Steel Rolling Mills (SSSRM), has a capacity for
300,000 tpy of 8-32 mm diameter rebar, which
can be epoxy coated. Sister company Sohar Steel
was built with a 36-tonne EAF and ladle furnace
feeding a 3-strand caster for 100, 120 and 130
mm sq billet. It can produce 250,000 tpy of
billet.
Sohar Steel is now being upgraded by Danieli
Centro Met with a 75-tonne FastArc EAF,
increasing steel output to 700,000 tpy. Danieli is
also supplying a 140-tonne teeming crane to
handle the larger tapping weights. The new
meltshop is due to start up in mid-2013.
The port of Sohar is developing into a focus for
steel products in the Gulf, with Al Jazeera Steel
Products also being established there. This
company buys billet and has four ERW
tubemaking lines with a total capacity of
300,000 tpy of international-standard tube
products with plain, threaded and coupled
ends. It also has three galvanizing lines for
corrosion-protected tube up to 219 mm
diameter.
Al Jazeera Steel has subsequently
commissioned a 300,000 tpy merchant bar mill
for producing angles, channels, squares, fats
and rounds. The company says it is exporting
products to 25 countries, including North
America, Europe and Australia.
Qatar
Qatar Steel (Qasco) started production in 1978 as
one of the frst DRI-based integrated
steelmakers in the Gulf, and has continued to
augment its capabilities, both in Qatar and also
elsewhere in the region: it established a
subsidiary rolling mill Qatar Steel Co FZE in
Dubai in 2003.
Last year the company awarded Siemens VAI a
contract to supply a new 1.1 million tpy billet
meltshop for its Mesaieed site, comprising a
110-tonne EAF, a 110-tonne ladle furnace, a
6-strand billet caster plus a new dedusting
plant and all auxiliary equipment. This new mill
is expected to go into operation in 2013.
The $250 million investment was originally
intended to replace the companys existing
meltshop in Mesaieed, but because of
increasing steel demand in the Gulf, it has been
decided to employ it as an additional facility,
with the original 95-tonne EAF and ladle
furnaces ordered also being enlarged to 110
tonnes. Qatar Steels current capacities are 2.4
million tpy of DRI/HBI, 1.9 million tpy of raw
steel, 1.8 million tpy of rebar and 0.3 million tpy
of wire rod.
Looking further afeld, Qatar Steel is also
studying the possibility of establishing a 2.5
million tpy rebar mill in Algeria (see earlier
section in article).
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdoms biggest steel company, Saudi
Iron & Steel Co (Hadeed) is continuing to invest
in new capacity to meet the needs of its
domestic market. A new 1 million tpy mini-mill
from Danieli is under construction at Al-Jubail,
consisting of a 150-tonne EAF, a 150-tonne ladle
furnace, a 6-strand caster for 130 mm and 150
mm sq billet, with materials handling for
ferro-alloys and cold DRI, and fume treatment
facilities.
A 120 tph walking beam furnace will charge
directly into an 18-stand wire rod rolling mill.
This rolling mill is being put together by
upgrading and augmenting an existing rolling
mill. The new wire rod mini-mill is in the fnal
stages of construction and is expected to start up
in the second quarter.
This investment will increase Hadeeds total
capacity to 6 million tpy, with long products
accounting for two-thirds of this. The new plant
will also make Hadeed self-suffcient in billet,
says Abdulaziz Al-Humaid, Hadeed chairman
and Sabic executive vp for metals: We import
400,000 tpy of billet, but we will substitute
these imports and produce about 4 million tpy
of both billet and fnished long products, he
says.
Alongside other grades, the new rolling mill
will produce high-carbon wire rod, which is
now imported. The Saudi market for this is
estimated at some 200,000 tpy.
Hadeed has fve DRI modules with total
capacity of about 5.4 million tpy. The company
uses a mix of DRI and scrap in its fve electric arc
furnaces; the ratio varies according to product,
but averages about 20% scrap, which is
imported. We import about 600,000 tpy of
scrap now, but when the new mini-mill starts
up, an additional 600,000 tpy of imported scrap
may be needed, Al-Humaid says, and points
out that most of Hadeeds products, 95-96%,
are sold to its domestic market.
Another Saudi steelmaker, Rajhi Steel,
commissioned a 1.0 million tpy high-speed bar
and rod mill in May at its site at Alkhumra, south
of Jeddah. It produces 10-40 mm diameter
debar, and 5.5-16.0 mm smooth and deformed
wire rod. In order to feed this mill, the
companys 0.85 million tpy meltshop here has
been upgraded to produce more billet, with a
200 tph walking beam reheat furnace connected
directly to the billet caster. All plant has been
Saudi Iron & Steels latest investment will make it self-suffcient in billet and introduce new long
product grades
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system for feeding hot DRI to an EAF when it started up last year
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