OREANDA-NEWS. July 13, 2011. Endeavoring to expand its global footprint, Essar Steel Processing and Distribution (ESPD), part of Essar Steel, announces, today, the commissioning of service center facility that will cater to the needs of customers in the Middle East and neighboring regions.

This is the third facility after the one in the UK for the European region and the one in Indonesia that caters to the East Asian market. With this, ESPD has ramped up its international service center capacity to one million tons per annum. 

Commenting on this facility, Mr Vikram Amin, Executive Director (Sales & Marketing), said, “The Middle East is a natural market for us since we are located on the west coast of India. The facility at Dubai is part of our distribution strategy to enhance our reach to customers and improve our customer centricity and reliability of delivery, and thus supports us in becoming the steelmaker of choice for large and small customers.”

Set up as the most modern steel service center facility at Dubai, UAE, the ESPDF has a   processing capacity of 250,000 tons per annum. Located in Jebel Ali Free Zone South, Dubai, UAE, the facility comprises three state-of-the-art hot rolled cut-to-length, HR slitter & CR & GI combination (slitting & cut-to-length) lines.

This facility will supply world-class, mill guaranteed, quality products to customers in the region. Processed material will be shipped to countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain by road. For local customers of UAE who are presently entirely dependent on imports, ESPD Dubai will supply just-in-time deliveries.

With the advantage of port facilities, Essar Steel will make shipments from the largest single single-location 10-MTPA plant at Hazira in Gujarat to the ESPDF at Dubai for providing custom made steel products to valuable clients. Besides, catering to Middle East region, the markets in the neighboring areas will also be explored by ESPDF Dubai.

ESPD, the flat steel processing arm of steel major Essar Steel, is targeting to become 5-million-ton-per-annum capacity servicing chain. ESPD, the latest sales channel of Essar Steel, envisions improving steel intensity in Indian infrastructure and is focused on customizing steel as per customer requirements in small lots and 'just in time'.

ESPD presently operates 3.3mtpa capacity in India with seven service centers, besides a 1-mtpa capacity internationally with three service centers. With such a network and plans to expand further, it is the dominant steel service center in India and is among the top 10 service centers globally.

ESPD operates various equipment to process CR/HR/galvanized/pre-painted coil and plate mill plates. Its product range covers quarter of a millimeter to 200 millimeters in thickness and includes slit coils, blanks, welded beams, profile burnt plates and surface treatment.

About Essar Steel

Essar Steel Limited, part of Essar Global Limited, is a fully integrated flat carbon steel manufacturer — from iron ore to ready-to-market products. Essar Steel has a current capacity of 10 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). Its products find wide acceptance in highly discerning consumer sectors, such as automotive, white goods, construction, engineering and shipbuilding. Essar Steel produces highly customised products catering to a variety of product segments and is India’s largest exporter of flat products to the highly demanding US and European markets, and to the growing markets of South East Asia and the Middle East. It has invested in downstream capabilities to evolve from being a product-based company to becoming a value-added service provider. It has a global network of retail steel outlets, called Steel Hypermarts, and offers services, like cutting, slitting and blanking of steel sheets, through specialised steel service centers worldwide.