The Arab Iron and Steel Union held the meetings of the Board of Directors No. 126 and the General Assembly No. 56 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at the Intercontinental Dubai Festival Hotel, on the 14th and 15th of May, at the kind invitation of the Emirates Steel Arkan Company, in the presence of representatives of the iron and steel companies that are members of the union.

Mr. Awwad Al-Khalidi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arab Iron and Steel Union, who also occupies the position of Chairman and Managing Director of the United Steel Industry Company (Kuwait Steel), praised the efforts of the UAE government and people, and thanked the Emirates Steel Group, Arkan Steel, for the hospitality and good reception, and the members for meeting Invitation to attend meetings.
In his speech, he called on Arab countries and companies to cooperate and activate agreements, especially trade exchange, and he believes that the Arab steel industry is in need now more than ever to protect its interests and to cooperate more to achieve integration among them, albeit gradually, and to diversify its products and make Arab markets an integrated market, not competitive markets. .

Engineer Saeed Al-Rumaithi, Chairman of Emirates Steel Group, mentioned in his speech the role of carbon neutrality in the Arab countries and said, “The Arab countries enjoy many advantages for the production of green steel, including an abundant material base and low-cost natural gas materials, the availability of renewable energy sources, including green hydrogen, and proximity to Global export sources, as well as taking over the production of Arab countries from about half of the direct reduced iron production, which is characterized by low carbon dioxide emissions. The green steel industry also faces challenges, including renewable energy prices and high metal prices. Therefore, cooperation and joint solutions must be found to secure a sustainable future for the Arab iron and steel industry and benefit from Our strength stems from the transition to the production of iron with low carbon emissions.

Dr. Kamal Judy, Secretary General of the Arab Iron and Steel Union, presented the union’s activities between the two sessions and a summary of the general budget, as well as a summary of the report of the Economic Committee.

One of the most important decisions was the adoption of the final budget for the year 2022, as well as approving the establishment of the technical committee, in addition to determining the holding of the 16th Arab Steel Summit during October 2023 in Cairo, and holding the meetings of the Board of Directors and the next General Assembly during April – May 2024 in the Republic of Algeria.