Sustainable steel
EGYPTIAN STEEL
market share in Egypt ,” says Abou Hashima . “ We ’ re also expanding into the cement industry with a production capacity of 2 million tons per year , and going into IPO is in our plan , although there ’ s no set time for it yet .
“ We have already taken our first step into the cement industry by establishing the sister company Egyptian Cement , and in the future , after mainly operating in steel and cement we might look into diversifying into other building materials such as wood , ceramic , and glass . Our vision is to make the group a onestop shop for all building materials .”
By the end of 2017 , all of Egyptian Steel ’ s plants will become operational and the company will have an estimated workforce of 6,000 people . “ With the opening of the Beni Suief plant we ’ re also opening a vocational development centre for training steel plant workers in order to improve their skills and performance ,” Abou Hashima adds . But the centre is not limited to just people working for Egyptian Steel : “ It ’ s open for free to anyone who wants to learn ,” he says , “ It helps us raise the calibre of our workers , and at the same time is part of our role to give back to society , and enable people to have an opportunity to improve their skills to be able to compete in today ’ s workforce market .”
While Egyptian Steel is backed up by significant investment , the company has had to face up to the industry-wide challenge of sourcing enough energy for production . “ The government has made an enormous effort to improve the power grid ,” Abou Hashima says . “ There have been new power stations launched , as well as mega projects with companies like Siemens to generate power , and the outstanding natural gas field discovered by Eni , which will have a great impact in the future .”
“ The situation is definitely better , but we have started using new energy-saving technology which will enable us to avoid any problems in both the long and short run .”
Sustainable steel
Embedded within Egyptian Steel ’ s business model is the imperative to operate as responsibly as possible , a
46 November 2016