Four companies have priced the estimated $40 million contract, which covers the civil, mechanical, electrical and instrumentation works. They are: the UK's Costain; Ed Zueblin of Germany; the local/South African venture Al-Jaber Establishment/ LTA; and the local/South African joint venture of Al-Habtoor Engineering Enterprises with Murray & Roberts Contractors (Middle East). The contract will take 28 months.

The client, Voest-Alpine Industries, part of Austria's Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau (VAI) group, will supply the equipment for the proposed plant.

In early July, Voest-Alpine Industries signed a letter of intent with Kuwait-based Gulf Investment Corporation to construct the steel rolling mill. Estimated to cost $180 million, the plant will have a capacity to produce 90,000 tonnes a year of various grades of steel.