Dammam-based Zamil Steel – a global leader in the design and manufacture of pre-engineered steel buildings (PEBs) that has gone from strength to strength since its inception in 1977 – has kicked off a series of expansion plans that will strengthen its position in the fast-growing steel markets both within the kingdom and outside.

“This year our new satellite PEB factory in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, will start production with 2,000 tonnes of steel. Furthermore, earlier this year we started construction work on our new factory in the state of Maharashtra in Western India, over an area of 90,000 sq m for the design and production of pre engineered steel buildings for our overseas markets,” says a company spokesperson.
In addition to its global leadership in the design and manufacture of pre-engineered steel buildings, Zamil Steel is also the Middle East’s premier supplier of structural steel products, pressure vessels, transmission and telecommunications towers, open web steel joists and floor deckings.
“Our company has been world-renowned for the quality of its products, its commitment to innovation and its proven ability to deliver unique and hitherto impossible steel-frame structures within strict timeframes. These factors not only enable Zamil Steel to contribute new and innovative designs in steel construction but also are the driver of its exemplary year-on-year growth and expansion,” he adds.
According to the spokesman, the global economic growth and the rapid industrialization that is taking place in developing countries has had a highly positive impact on the company. Furthermore, the prevailing high oil prices for the last two or three years have boosted the region’s economy, leading to increased business activities, and consequently a construction boom.
Zamil Steel has supplied more than 40,000 buildings to more than 80 countries worldwide from Panama and Mexico in the west to the Philippines, China, South Korea and Japan in the east.
“We are proud of the achievements of Zamil Steel and remain committed to our customers for their continued support and are grateful to our workforce who uphold the values and principles upon which the company is founded,” says Adnan Al Mansour, executive vice president of the company.
Zamil Steel has the following three business divisions: the PEB Business Unit, Structural Steel Business Unit (SSBU) and Towers and Galvanising (T&G) Business Unit.
PEB Business Unit: This facility is its oldest and largest business unit with a monthly production capacity of 8,500 tonnes and is claimed to be the largest single PEB business factory in the world. In 1999, Zamil Steel commissioned two more factories to manufacture PEBs in Vietnam and Egypt, expanding production capacity to 15,000 tonnes per month and providing a physical presence in the midst of high-growth markets in Asia and Africa.
“The success of this business unit is partly due to the efficiencies achieved through its upgraded ‘eZ-Build’ engineering software, which automates design and estimation of PEBs. Further productivity increases are expected when newly-adopted detailing software becomes operational. This will be integrated into existing engineering systems to minimize any incidence of detailing errors,” says the spokesman
SSBU: Established in 1983, this division counts among its activities the design, planning, fabrication and project management of structural steel projects for commercial and heavy industrial applications such as power and desalination plants, petrochemical, gas and oil facilities, cement factories, steel mills and high-rise steel structures.
“It achieved a record performance last year, with a remarkable increase in production to more than 40,000 tonnes and an unprecedented level of engineering releases to manufacturing. This is in addition to the successful product diversification into process equipment, such as boilers, reactor columns and pressure vessels.
The SSBU has also developed its operations with the recent completion of a 100,000 sq m expansion and the opening of a new regional sales office in Dubai to serve the UAE and Oman, along with investing in state-of-the-art machinery.
“Engineering capabilities have also been enhanced with the addition of the X-Steel computer-aided design system, a more efficient replacement for its previous system,” he adds.
T&G Business Unit: Specialising in the design and manufacture of steel lattice towers and galvanised products, it provides design, fabrication, galvanising and testing services for various products such as power transmission towers, radio and telecommunication towers, substation structures, railway electrification structures, radar towers and other lattice steel structures.
Canam Asia is also part of the Zamil Steel fold as a joint venture between Zamil Industrial Investment Company (ZIIC) and Steel Plus, a subsidiary of Canam Group of Canada. As an international manufacturing and fabrication group, ZIIC provides pre engineered steel buildings, structural steel products, transmission towers, open web-joists and decks, air conditioning and architectural glass processing solutions to meet the requirements of the global construction industry through its three sector businesses of Zamil Steel, Zamil Air Conditioners and Zamil Glass Industries.
With its main factory in Dammam First and Second Industrial Cities and additional factories located in Egypt, Vietnam, UAE and India, Zamil Steel products are marketed in more than 80 countries through a network of 50 sales offices, 59 certified builders and 27 agents and distributors. More than 500 engineers are employed in its engineering departments in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Vietnam and India.