Gulf Construction Online - Kwik Steel ready to roll this month

UAE Focus

Hans ... optimistic.

Kwik Steel ready to roll this month

01 October 2005

Kwik Steel Structures, being set up with an investment of Dh50 million ($13.6 million), launches operations this month. It is expected to be the second largest structural steel plant in the UAE when completed.

The facility, which can produce 1,200 tonnes of structural steel per month, sprawls over a 45,000 sq m site at Dubai Techno Park Industrial Zone.
“Kwik Steel will provide high-quality, high-output steel fabrication services to local and international construction and oil and gas sectors as soon as the plant is functional,” Hans Goerke, Kwik Steel plant manager says.
The plant will have an initial built-up area of 10,000 sq m and will be manned by a 250-strong multinational workforce. A further 60 supervisory and managerial staff will ensure the smooth operations of the facility which is purpose-built to carry out design of structure, plate processing, beam processing, bending and shaping, fitting and assembly, welding, painting and shot blasting.
“The machinery deployed (primarily from Germany and other European countries), has a strong emphasis on automation to ensure fast output and reduce dependence on labour without sacrificing efficiency,” Goerke adds. “The plant maintains internationally-recognised quality standards while the company’s commercial skills in procuring raw materials will add further value to its products.”
“We have worked with the Convrgnt Design team over the past year to develop this state-of-the-art facility. Both sides have worked tremendously hard to produce the best-designed facility of its kind in the region. We have a good working relationship with Convrgnt’s team and are confident to use this experience in future to jointly develop and deliver other solutions for our future clients,” adds Goerke, who comes to Dubai with more than 30 years of experience in the field.
He continues: “The construction market in the UAE is at its peak, which is expected to last until 2010. As a result, the demand for fabricated steel products is set for a 28 to 37 per cent yearly growth till 2008, with the market being approximately 61 per cent larger than it was in 2003. This growth in demand is also expected in other Middle Eastern countries.
“In order to meet the growing demand for hot-rolled steel fabrications, including complex and sophisticated steel fabrication solutions, Convrgnt Value Engineering and Kwik Steel Structures have joined hands to set up this structural steel plant.
“In addition, the market has become more sophisticated, with increased emphasis placed on quality and speed of delivery – areas in which Kwik Steel is all geared to excel in.”
Goerke believes that there is a huge scope for the new steel plant as the facility basically deals in primary building materials for the construction of industrial structures. For the residential market, the company will produce items such as crowns, canopies and car parks for high-rise towers, and indeed for the building structure itself.
The company is also targeting the civil engineering projects, where structural steel is widely used in the construction of bridges, pedestrian walkways, airport buildings and utility structures, port facilities, rapid transport systems, amongst others.