soulsoul
April 25th, 2009, 01:33 PM
Sudan to start making steel for construction
Thu Apr 23, 2009
By Amena Bakr
DUBAI (Reuters) - Khartoum-based Sudanese Malaysian Factory for Steel Industries plans to expand capacity to produce 100,000 tonnes of rebar steel per year due to local demand, a company executive told Reuters on Thursday.
Sudan's government aims for self-sufficiency in steel and has provided tax breaks to encourage local manufacturers to expand, Abubakr Osman Gamar, the Deputy General of the company said.
Under the first phase of an expansion plan, SMF Steel plans to begin production in about three months of rebar at the rate of around 60,000 tonnes per year, Gamar said. The company currently produces no rebar, which is used in construction, he said. It produces flat steel and pipes.
"At a later stage the production will be 100,000 tonnes," he said. "The reason why we are starting this project is because of the high demand in the local market," he said in a telephone interview.
SMF, the Malaysia component of whose name is a relic of a former investor, aimed to reach the 100,000 tonnes target by the end of the year if there were no problems with electricity supply, Gamar said.
The government was supporting the expansion by offering up to 10 years of tax exemptions on machinery and feedstock used for the production of the steel, he said.
Feedstock for the steel production will be brought in from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
"Currently we are in the process of signing agreements with these countries to start supplying us with materials," said Gamar
Gamar estimated Sudan's steel imports at around 600,000 tonnes per year.
"With growing local developments demand is going to grow even more," he said.
The economic slowdown has made the expansion cheaper as it has cut the cost of machinery, Gamar said. SMF Steel imported the machinery to make the rebar from China.
The slowdown hit the steel industry hard and pushed rebar prices down to $550 per tonnne from around $1,700 in July.
"But with the support of the government and the new direction to become more self sufficient we are less impacted by the economic crisis that's why steel companies here are expanding," Gamar added.
Thu Apr 23, 2009
By Amena Bakr
DUBAI (Reuters) - Khartoum-based Sudanese Malaysian Factory for Steel Industries plans to expand capacity to produce 100,000 tonnes of rebar steel per year due to local demand, a company executive told Reuters on Thursday.
Sudan's government aims for self-sufficiency in steel and has provided tax breaks to encourage local manufacturers to expand, Abubakr Osman Gamar, the Deputy General of the company said.
Under the first phase of an expansion plan, SMF Steel plans to begin production in about three months of rebar at the rate of around 60,000 tonnes per year, Gamar said. The company currently produces no rebar, which is used in construction, he said. It produces flat steel and pipes.
"At a later stage the production will be 100,000 tonnes," he said. "The reason why we are starting this project is because of the high demand in the local market," he said in a telephone interview.
SMF, the Malaysia component of whose name is a relic of a former investor, aimed to reach the 100,000 tonnes target by the end of the year if there were no problems with electricity supply, Gamar said.
The government was supporting the expansion by offering up to 10 years of tax exemptions on machinery and feedstock used for the production of the steel, he said.
Feedstock for the steel production will be brought in from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
"Currently we are in the process of signing agreements with these countries to start supplying us with materials," said Gamar
Gamar estimated Sudan's steel imports at around 600,000 tonnes per year.
"With growing local developments demand is going to grow even more," he said.
The economic slowdown has made the expansion cheaper as it has cut the cost of machinery, Gamar said. SMF Steel imported the machinery to make the rebar from China.
The slowdown hit the steel industry hard and pushed rebar prices down to $550 per tonnne from around $1,700 in July.
"But with the support of the government and the new direction to become more self sufficient we are less impacted by the economic crisis that's why steel companies here are expanding," Gamar added.