Increasing levels of sales at steel rebar maker Sharq Sohar Steel Rolling Mills (SSSRM) LLC has motivated the company to go ahead with a sizable expansion at its plant in the north of Oman.

Annual production capacity is to double to 700,000 tonnes by the end of 2013, senior manager for corporate services J Desing told Gulf Industry.

The new facility will include an 80-tonne electric arc furnace for steel making and a new rolling mill of 550,000 tonnes capacity. In the second phase of the expansion a wire rod coil mill is to be added to push annual capacity to 1 million tonnes of steel products.

The company’s output was 282,214 tonnes in 2011 and 157,775 tonnes in H1 2012. It makes rebars of diameters ranging from 8 to 32 mm and conforms to BS, Saso and ASTM requirements. SSSRM is accredited with the Care certification for the entire range of products and certified under ISO 9001:2008 by Intertek for facilities including testing.

An inhouse laboratory has a Zwick tensile testing machine, Bruckner Spectrometer and Oscam bending machine.

The company has seen Oman demand rising. “We’re committed to meeting the continuously rising demand for reinforcement steel in the Sultanate of Oman and the UAE,” said Desing, adding demand was steady in Oman even during the global recession.

SSSRM’s export markets were mainly the UAE and Saudi Arabia where it exported 40 to 45 per cent of its output. The company now has decided to reduce exports and dedicate more to the local market. It has a marketing office in Dubai but exports to the UAE have been declining.

Sales worth RO81.9 million ($213 million) were reported in 2011. H1 2012 sales were RO44.3 million, raising prospects of a better year if the momentum continues.

SSSRM has a steel-making unit Sohar Steel at Sohar Industrial Port which supplies it the billets it needs for its factory. It also has a fusion bonded epoxy coating plant with a capacity of around 25,000 tonnes per year to cater to the needs of the construction industry. Another unit it has is a weld mesh plant.

Established in 1995 in technical collaboration with IDC Turkey, it is the largest producer of new-generation high-strength, thermo mechanically treated reinforcement bars in Oman.

The company’s steel has found a place in top-notch projects including Dubai International Airport, National Petroleum Corporation, Iran; Qatar Petroleum Corporation and SGCM, Saudi Arabia. In Oman it has served most of the projects initiated by various ministries, the Muscat Airport Expansion, Sohar Industrial Port, Sohar Refinery, the Methanol project and projects undertaken by companies such as BBM, Galfar, Towel Constructions and Strabag.

“The major challenge is to keep pace with the rise in demand in this region,” said Desing. “With the increase in developmental activities in the Gulf, demand for steel is expected to be steady for a few more years to come. With this in mind, we have decided to go ahead with our ambitious expansion plan.”