Alam Steel plans to expansion its steel firm for oil and gas industry

Dubai: Alam Steel, one of the oldest steel industry distributors in the Gulf, will invest in multiple service centres around the region to provide customised steel plates to the oil and gas industry.

In a joint venture with Macsteel SA, one of the largest privately held steel firms, each centre will require an investment of Dh50 million. The first centre based in Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone will see construction begin by the end of this year. The size of each centre will be 250,000 to 300,000 square feet.

The service centres will take one year to complete and will also serve the fabrication industry. The distributor expects revenues of Dh1.5 billion in 2010.

Alam Steel has over 2 million square feet of distribution space and stocks over 150,000 tonnes of various steel products in the GCC. The firm's manufacturing subsidiary, Alam Steel Industries, processes debars for the construction sector and has an annual capacity of 500,000 tonnes.