India’s Essar Group Partners With Bahrain Steel for Green Steel Project in Saudi Arabia
Indian conglomerate Essar Group on Thursday announced partnering with Foulath subsidiary, Bahrain Steel, a leading producer and global supplier of high-grade iron-ore pellets, for supply of iron ore pellets to the Indian group’s upcoming steel project in Saudi Arabia, the Green Steel Arabia (GSA).
The partnership envisages Bahrain Steel to deliver 4 million tonnes of DR-grade pellets per annum (mtpa) to Essar Group.
Bahrain Steel: GCC’s top pellet supplier
Bahrain Steel is the only GCC-owned pellet producer and leading supplier of high-quality DR-grade pellets to all integrated steel producers in the region.
The two companies signed the Letter of Intent (LOI) for the supply agreement on Wednesday in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.
Commenting on the partnership, Dilip George, Group CEO of Foulath Holding, said the company is proud to collaborate with the Essar Group to support its pioneering project for setting up the first green steel project in Saudi Arabia, where there is a growing focus on sustainable development.
“Bahrain Steel’s LOI with Essar for the supply of 4 million tonnes of DR grade pellets annually is a testament to our commitment to meet the growing demand for DR pellets by the steel industry in the GCC,” he added.
Naushad Ansari, Country Head for Essar Group in KSA, said Essar is looking at investing about $4.5 billion in setting up the integrated steel plant in Ras Al Khair, Saudi Arabia.
“This LOI, post final contracts being agreed and signed, will secure 50 percent raw material supply of iron ore pellets for the Saudi steel plant. If all goes as planned, we expect commercial production to begin from the year 2027,” Ansari said.
The Essar project is also set to be the region’s first green steel project, aiming to set the global benchmark in the reduction of CO2.
The project will have a direct reduced iron (DRI) capacity of 5.0 mtpa, comprising of two modules of 2.50 mtpa each, and 4.0 mtpa hot strip capacity, as well as 1.0 million tonnes of cold rolling capacity along with galvanizing and tin plate lines, Essar said in a media statement.
In line with the Kingdom’s ongoing demand for steel products and the targets set by Vision 2030, the facility will cater to all major steel-consuming industries, including construction, oil & gas, automotive, packaging and general engineering, the company statement said.
