The activities of the 16th Arab Steel Summit were launched today, Sunday, in cooperation with the Egyptian Ezz Steel Company to discuss the economic, geopolitical and climatic changes that the world is witnessing and their significant impact on the iron and steel industry, Arab and global.
In his opening speech at the conference, Awad Al-Khalidi, President of the Arab Steel Union, stressed the importance of cooperation in the field of iron and steel to develop this field in the Arab region.
He said that the iron and steel industries have a major role in developing and supporting economies in countries, especially their role in supporting projects in the Arab world.
For his part, the Chairman of the Ezz Steel Group of Companies, Engineer Ahmed Ezz, began his speech by sending a strong message in which he condemned the ongoing Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip against about 2.4 million Palestinians in the Strip.
He denounced the continued brutal military escalation and the call for the forced displacement of unarmed civilians, describing them as collective punishment policies condemned by the entire world.
Regarding the 16th Arab Steel Summit, Ezz praised the Union’s role in its continued development and success of this “important” field, noting that the Union is playing a good role in supporting this industry and industrial integration among the countries of the region.
He said that the Arab steel industry has witnessed growth, modernization and “important” successes in this field, pointing out the importance of comparing the Arab world’s steel production at the beginning of the new millennium and production in 2022, that is, a quarter of a century later. He added, “We will find that production has increased from nine million tons to more than 39 million tons, a growth rate of 314 percent.”
He considered this a major achievement in light of international and global challenges for the steel industry in the Arab region, pointing in this context to the successes of this industry in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Morocco, Algeria and Qatar.
Ezz pointed out that the average per capita consumption in the Arab world ranges between 100 to 110 kilograms in the Arab world, compared to the developed industrial world, where it reaches from 480 to 490 kilograms, explaining, “We still have a lot to do with the enormous opportunity in the Arab steel industry.”
He pointed out that the Arab world’s steel production is 2 percent of the world’s production, even though the Arab world’s population is 7 percent of the world’s population, indicating that the Arab world’s contribution to the global economy is almost 4 percent, and this heralds that there are important investment opportunities. In the steel industry in the Arab world.
The conference, which will be held under the title “Investment Opportunities in the Iron and Steel Industry in the Arab Countries,” will discuss over two days several topics, including green steel technology, the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the steel industry, the global economic crises and their impact on the Arab steel industry, and the impact of oil and gas prices on the economics of the steel industry.
It also discusses investment opportunities and challenges in the Arab steel industry, the ability of Arab countries to produce value-added steel, the circular economy “green scrap,” its role in the sustainable development of the steel industry, raw materials and production requirements, and the extent of their impact on the future of the Arab iron and steel industry.
Many companies participated in the conference, including steel production and rolling mill companies, suppliers of steel production technology, suppliers of raw materials for the iron and steel industry, companies working in the field of iron and steel trade, companies using iron and steel products, and suppliers of technological equipment.
In conjunction with the conference, the Arab Union organized the International Iron and Steel Exhibition 2023, which formed a suitable environment for companies to display their iron and steel products.