Strong demand boosts expansion efforts

By: Zainab Mansoor

"The recent recession forced us to manoeuvre around 85% of our pipe and tube production to export to USA, Canada and Africa. Now we see gradual recovery in the domestic market and safely assume that it is the right time to return our focus to the local market and concentrate on domestic demographics."
 -Bharat Bhatia, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Conares Metal Supply

IMNE: How did the company emerge into a leading supplier of steel and other metal products?

Bhatia: Conares Metal Supply Ltd was originally formed as a trading company. Though it was a small and humble beginning in the mid-nineties, now the company is synonymous to steel in the local market. Our strong alliance with various steel mills around the world has enabled us to achieve a leading position and become a reliable supplier to the UAE and the GCC market.
As the management of the company saw rising demand for customer-specific products, Conares eventually moved towards the production of steel products. In 2005, Conares installed a 100,000- tonnes-per-year tube mill facility in its Jebel Ali facility. At present, we operate a tube mill plant manufacturing ERW pipes and tubes with a rated capacity of 180 tonnes per annum. Aside from material of our own production, our trading division can offer wide range of steel products to our customers including hot rolled/cold rolled coils and sheets, hot rolled plates, chequered plates, galvanised and pre-painted coils, steel angles and channels and H-beams, I-beams.

 IMNE: What major investments have been made in the production facilities?

Bhatia: For Conares, moving towards production means investments poured into our production facilities. We are currently operating a tube mill plant at our facility in Jebel Ali Free Zone to manufacture pipes and tubes. These pipes and tubes are round, square and rectangular models of various dimensions and lengths.
Conares is at final stage of installing a pipe galvanising facility (36,000 tonnes per year) to allow the company to galvanise its pipes. The company has also successfully installed the seam annealing facility that will allow us to supply pipes conforming to ASTM A53 Grade B.
Conares have also set up a new rebar mill supplied by Siemens VAI of Italy with an estimated annual capacity of 500,000 metric tonnes per year. The new rebar facility is installed at a 1.0 million square-feet plot in the South Zone of Jebel Ali Free Zone. Siemens engineers are currently implementing the trial runs and the first production is expected to commence in March 2011.
With the addition of these capacities, the company's total production will jump to around 700,000 tonnes a year.

IMNE: What are your target markets?

Bhatia: Currently, Conares is counted amongst the very few regional producers with a diversified product range, including pipes & tubes (black & hot dipped galvanised) with a size range of 1/2"- 4" and rebar 8-32mm. Our clientele mainly includes pre-engineering companies, major steel trading companies, stockists and construction companies in UAE and abroad.

IMNE: Which countries hold maximum potential for Conares and why?

Bhatia: The recent recession forced us to maneuver our export strategies and focus 85 percent of our pipe and tube production towards USA, Canada and Africa. Now we see gradual recovery in the domestic and regional market and safely assume that it is the right time to return our focus to the local market and concentrate on its demographics. As for prospects for the construction sector in the GCC region, we see great potential in Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the nearest decade.

IMNE: Where doesAir Jordan VI 6 Shoes