General Holding Corp. PJSC, the Abu
Dhabi government-owned holding company, plans to invest 5.8
billion dirhams ($1.6 billion) in the next three to four years
as it helps expand the sheikhdom’s industrial sector.
The company plans to spend 3 billion dirhams expanding
Emirates Steel Industries PJSC, which operates the largest steel
plant in the United Arab Emirates, Hussain al Nowais, the
company’s chairman, told reporters in Abu Dhabi. It also plans
to invest 800 million dirhams in a plant that will process
aluminum produced by Emirates Aluminium Co., an Abu Dhabi-based
smelter, and 2 billion dirhams with an unidentified joint-
venture partner to produce so-called seamless pipes used by the
oil and gas industry, al-Nowais said.
“At the moment, the industrial sector represents less than
15 percent of Abu Dhabi’s economy,” said al-Nowais. “General
Holding wants to help Abu Dhabi reach its goal of 25 percent.”
Abu Dhabi, home to more than 7 percent of the world’s
proven crude oil reserves, is seeking to diversify its economy
to reduce reliance on income from exporting crude. The city is
expanding its production of steel, aluminum and petrochemicals,
which can then be used to spawn new industries.
General Holding net income advanced 15 percent to a record
1.5 billion dirhams for full-year 2011 from 1.3 billion dirhams
a year earlier, it said in a statement. Revenue from the
conglomerate, whose companies range from energy services to
food, rose 16 percent to 11.5 billion dirhams.
Steel Contract
Emirates Steel plans to award a contract this year to build
the phase 3 expansion of its Mussafah steel plant in Abu Dhabi,
which will take production to 5 million tons a year, al-Nowais
said. The company plans to borrow about $600 million, or 60
percent to 70 percent of the total cost, to finance the
expansion, he said. The company hired BNP Paribas SA (BNP) in January
as its adviser.
Another General Holding unit Abu Dhabi Basic Industries
Corp., a developer of polymers, petrochemicals and metals
projects, is studying four new projects that it may invest in,
including two related to aluminum and one for copper, al-Nowais
said. General Holding is also considering an acquisition in the
steel business, he said.
Arkan Building Materials Co. (ARKAN), a construction-supplies maker
51 percent-owned by General Holding, may get more contracts in
Abu Dhabi this year as the sheikhdom expands infrastructure such
as housing, schools and hospitals, al-Nowais said.
Most of General Holding’s income comes from Emirate Steel
and National Petroleum Construction Co., an oil-services company
of which it owns 70 percent, he said. Total assets rose 10
percent to 23.7 billion in 2011.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Ayesha Daya in Dubai
adaya1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at
sev@bloomberg.net