Al-Ghurair expansion delayed

UAE-based Al-Ghurair Iron & Steel (Agis) has said contracts for the second-phase expansion of its metals plant at Musaffah, Abu Dhabi, will not be awarded until the fourth quarter of 2011 due to uncertainties in the steel market, Meed has reported, citing a senior manager at the company. The cost of the expansion has gone down from $100m that was originally planned to $40m, the executive said. The second phase expansion will increase the plant's capacity to almost 500,000 tonnes a year (t/y) from the current capacity of 350,000 t/y, he told the magazine.