Bahrain-based Sulb, a regional steel producer, has invested $20 million in building a new wharf which will facilitate the billet and section producer’s exports, which form the bulk of its business.

The steel plant located at Salman Industrial City in Hidd has also received a port/private jetty operator licence issued by the government.

Inaugurated last month by Transportation and Telecommunications Ministry assistant under-secretary for ports affairs Bader Al Mahmood, the new private port facility is 230 metres long and can accommodate ships of up to 180m length overall (LOA) and 40,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT).

Officials at the inauguration of Sulb’s new wharf at Bahrain’s Salman Industrial City in Hidd

Shipping directly by sea to customers, nearly one million tonnes of Sulb’s product will be taken off Bahrain’s roads each year. This is equivalent to 40,000 trailers annually, which will significantly reduce traffic in the kingdom and wear and tear on roads.

According to Sulb chief executive Ravi Singh the new facility is also expected to result in a nearly 18,000 tonnes reduction in the company’s post-production greenhouse-gas emissions.

“This is a win-win proposition for the kingdom, our company, our customers and our community. The new facility will help us operate more efficiently,” Singh added.

“It significantly strengthens our export supply chain for the benefit of our customers, the kingdom’s economy and our position as one of Bahrain’s largest exporters and net forex earners. Importantly, it also allows us to make positive strides in our sustainability mission. With our own shipping facilities onsite, we will help in decongesting Bahrain’s roads and significantly reducing our own carbon emissions in support of cleaner air and the meeting of the government’s air quality targets.”

It will help the company save approximately 30 per cent on annual freight-on-board charges while also helping customers reduce procurement fees by up to 20 per cent as a result of onsite loading and shipment capabilities.

Sulb: going green

Sulb currently exports 99 per cent of its products to customers in more than 25 countries and nearly 50 per cent of all structural steel sections used in the GCC’s infrastructure development are manufactured by the company in Bahrain.

Al Mahmood said: ““We are delighted to see private sector initiatives and investments that support greater efficiency, Bahrain’s position as a leading regional exporter and which contribute to the Kingdom’s plans and policies to see the economy operate in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly manner..”

Two ships are expected to arrive at the facility within the first month of its operation. The first will arrive to load for export approximately 13,000 tonnes of ‘Made in Bahrain’ steel beams and the second ship with 32,000 tonnes will be loaded by the month’s end.

Sulb produces 1.7 million tonnes of direct reduced iron from iron ore pellets manufactured by sister-company Bahrain Steel, 1.2 million tonnes of steel and delivers almost 800,000 tonnes of finished beams, angles and channels along with its sister company in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

Steel beams are required for the creation of infrastructure related to heavy industries like refineries, steel and petrochemical plants as well as in high rise buildings, bridges, airports, convention centres and other long span architecture.

The company is 51 per cent owned by Foulath Holding, a Bahrain-based investment vehicle for the metals industry across the Middle East region. Foulath has been established by the six GCC countries.