Gulf Construction Online - Conares rebar facility gets green certified

Manufacturers & Procurement

Conares’ steel rebar facility ... certified.

Conares rebar facility gets green certified

01 June 2014

Conares, a leading provider of downstream steel products in the region, has received the Sustainable Constructional Steel Certification by the UK Certification Authority for Reinforcing Steels (UK Cares) for its rebar manufacturing division. This endorsement confirms that it operates a documented environmental management system that satisfies the requirements of ISO 14001.

The Sustainable Reinforcing Steel Certification scheme provides Conares an independent certification of the environmental performance of its steel products. This will also allow the company’s rebar to easily comply with Abu Dhabi’s Estidama, BRE Environmental Assessment Method (Breeam), and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (Leed) requirements.

Receiving the global certification, CEO of Conares Bharat Bhatia says: “We are proud of achieving the Sustainable Constructional Steel Certification. Now constructional steel products made by Conares are fully traceable, from production to delivery. Being the leading provider of downstream steel products in the Gulf market and beyond, Conares adopts measures to focus on reducing the impact on the environment, with its energy-efficient and environment-friendly steel mills.

“The Sustainable Constructional Steel Certification is testimony to our commitment to adopt sustainable standards in manufacturing of reinforcement bars that facilitate the region’s infra-development sector, eventually contributing to the economy and supporting the measures to reduce the eco-footprint,” he adds.

Conares, a diversified and full-fledged manufacturing facility based in the UAE, is today the premier provider of quality steel products for wide ranging needs.

Bhatia continues: “We are always on the look-out for growth and development of the construction and steel industries with the implementation of modern procedures and bringing an evolution in the tools and techniques. Using rebar produced by our mill enables the industry to demonstrate responsible sourcing of construction products and its commitment to sustainable development.”

Bhatia

According to him, reinforcing steel products produced by Conares are fully traceable and uniquely identifiable, allowing a chain of custody throughout the whole supply chain, from mill to site.

“This unbroken chain provides an assurance that sustainability is being pursued in our supply chain, so allowing the end-user to know the source and manufacturing processes used as well as the post-industrial use, recovery and recycling processes,” he elaborates.

The dynamic framework of the Sustainable Reinforcing Steel Certification scheme by UK Cares is aimed at improving the energy and environmental performance of products and providing a robust and transparent mechanism for communicating the environmental performance of steel products to designers, specifiers and clients. The environmental criteria were developed by a group of industry experts, and cover the entire supply chain from the production of the steel through its processing to the delivery of the finished product to the construction site.

“The implications of this changing approach to decision-making in construction procurement are that the supply chain must be able to clearly demonstrate it is managing these issues to improve sustainability performance. The Sustainable scheme is formally set up to do this through its scope, objectives, principles and the way it operates,” Bhatia says.

“Focusing on sustainable infrastructure development, we have introduced ‘continuously galvanised reinforcement’, a first-of-its-kind sustainable approach in the Middle East region towards the infrastructure development,” he adds.

Meanwhile, the company has recorded double-digit growth in the first quarter of 2014. Having supplied to the market close to 100,000 tonnes of rebar in the first quarter, Conares has recorded an 80 per cent utilisation of its capacity. The first quarter volume is almost equivalent to 50 per cent of last year’s total tonnage.

The total sales of Conares steel products surged by 25 per cent as of the end of 2013. Business profit has also registered significant growth of 45 per cent in 2013, compared to the same period in 2012.

The company is focused on maximising its full capacity at its rebar mill in order to meet the increasing demand for steel and rebar in the region. The high demand and order bookings indicate a 100 per cent utilisation of its installed capacity in the second quarter of the year.

Conares has set benchmarks in the steel processing industry, competing in the domestic, regional and the global markets including the North America, Europe and Australia. The company supports the region’s infrastructure development sector with world-class steel products through long-term partnerships.

The company’s exports account for more than 20 per cent of its total production and its main export destinations include the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, Europe and the US.