MUSCAT: Oman’s largest steel producer Jindal Shadeed Iron & Steel (JSIS) has ambitions to dramatically ramp up the capacity of its assets in Suhar in conjunction with a strategy to decarbonize its operations and switch to greener fuels, such as renewable electricity and hydrogen.
Jindal Shadeed CEO Harssha Shetty said the company plans to invest in new production capabilities designed to achieve not only a significant increase in output, but also to diversify its product portfolio.
Participating in a recent podcast hosted by Shaikh Faisal al Nabhani as part of the Tejarah Talks series, Shetty affirmed the company’s commitment to energy sustainability, enabling the production of steel with a reduced carbon footprint.
“We believe that we can produce close to 6 million tonnes in Suhar alone – and that’s in terms of production volumes,” said the CEO. “We are currently a ‘longs’ producer, but we will be diversifying to a complete range of steel products – both ‘longs’ and ‘flats’; and this would be happening within the next three years.” Long steel products, typically made from billets and blooms, comprise steel rods, bars/coil sections, rebars, wire and seamless pipes. Flat steel products are made from steel slabs and include plate, strip, hollow sections, large diameter welded pipe and structural beams.
Elaborating on the proposed capacity expansion, Shetty noted: “In terms of volumes, very soon we will have between 5.5 and 6 million tonnes produced in Suhar across longs and flat products. We are already going to be 3.5 million tonnes in capacity after the acquisition of Sohar Steel. So we just need to add another 2 million tonnes.” In August, parent company Jindal Group announced the successful acquisition and revival of Sohar Steel – a 700,000 tonnes per annum capacity steel melt shop located in Sohar Freezone – which had remained shut for three years due to operational challenges. The takeover helped return the long-established plant to normal operations, while also salvaging the jobs of over 150 Omanis made redundant by the plant’s closure.
Significantly, an application for natural gas, as energy for the new capacity, has already been submitted to the authorities, the CEO said, adding that he was optimistic about an early allocation of gas. “With that, we are bringing a new DRI (Direct Reduction Iron plant), a new furnace and a new mill to expand our products,” he noted Furthermore, to support its sustainability and Net Zero goals, Jindal Shadeed is also exploring the potential deployment of renewable solar and green hydrogen to help decarbonization its operations in Suhar.
“We are already actively trying to secure land for renewables around Suhar. Once we have the land for renewables, we plan to have an electrolyzer set up so that we can produce green hydrogen. If we have to be Net Zero, this transition from natural gas to green hydrogen is the most critical element. So that's something we are currently very actively working on.” To help slash carbon emissions from its steelmaking operations, Jindal Shadeed plans to deploy technologies to capture CO2 and utilize this gas as a resource. To this end, the company has placed an order for a pilot plant which, at full scale, will help prevent an estimated 700,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum from being emitted into the atmosphere, he added.
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