Emirates Steel Arkan (ESA), United Arab Emirates' largest and sole fully integrated steelmaker, has spent 2022 accelerating new partnerships to ensure it is a regional market maker and green steel producer. This comes despite global economic turbulence and geopolitical confrontation since its acquisition by Arkan in late 2021.

The company is also in the final stages of securing approvals for its long-awaited 1.7 million tonnes/year capacity hot rolled coil plant.

"We are confident that Emirates Steel Arkan has a very promising future ... The Group has a clearly defined growth strategy anchored upon four core pillars to drive net asset value growth and maximise shareholder returns: geographic expansion, product range expansion, domestic growth and long-term growth,” ESA chief executive Saeed Al Remeithi tells Kallanish in an exclusive interview.

"We are in the process of obtaining final approvals for the hot rolled coil project, which will increase the Group’s production capacity from 3.5mt to 5.2mt annually, while diversifying our products and customer base. We announced our intention to reduce our exposure to supply volatility by examining potential sources of quality iron ore pellets, an important feedstock for ESA. We are collaborating with a potential mining partner in Mauritania, and feasibility studies are ongoing," Al Remeidhi adds.

"ESA and TAQA [Abu Dhabi National Energy Company] are currently in the techno-feasibility stage to develop a large-scale green hydrogen project enabling the first green steel produced in the MENA region. Also, a short time ago, ESA partnered with ITOCHU Corporation and JFE Steel Corporation, a subsidiary of JFE Holdings, to consider the construction of a ferrous raw material production facility in Abu Dhabi that would become an integral part of a global low carbon emission iron supply chain," the ceo observes.

Brazilian miner Vale recently announced sealing a partnership with ESA to build up a “Mega Hub” at Khalifa Economic Zone Abu Dhabi. Vale is expected to build and operate concentration and briquetting plants within the hub, providing a secure supply of high-grade agglomerated ore feedstock for hot-briquetted and direct reduced iron plants.

Electric arc furnace-route steelmaker ESA has a DRI facility and is among the lowest CO2 emitting steel producers thanks to its carbon capture unit. The company produced approximately 0.56 tonnes of CO2 for every tonne of liquid steel produced in 2019. The captured CO2 is sent to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company via a special pipeline to be injected into oil fields for enhanced oil recovery.