Oman’s Al Jazeera Steel planning Saudi JV
New joint venture to see company tap into the ‘high potentia’ infrastructural projects market
Oman-based Al Jazeera Steel Products Company is in talks with a Saudi firm to set up a joint-venture in the Kingdom, as the steelmaker seeks further growth in the region.
“With this new marketing strategy, the management is expecting to tap into the high potential infrastructural projects market, and is hoping that it can improve sales in that region,” said Sulaiman Mohammed al Rubaie, chairman of Al Jazeera Steel, without providing the name of the Saudi partner.
The company has posted a 33% increase in net profit for the first six months of this year to $7.3m, compared with $5.46m in the same period last year.
Sales revenue in the first half also climbed 16% to $140.44m from $121.46m a year ago, while production jumped 13% to 154,818 metric tonnes (MT) from 136,652MT, said Bejoy John, the financial controller at Al Jazeera Steel.
“There has been an overall improvement in financial performance. Increasing sales volumes, along with substantially reduced costs, has contributed to profitability,” he noted.