The UAE’s Emirates Steel Industries (ESI) has reported a 45.4 per cent increase in its output of finished products for the first half of 2010, compared with the corresponding period in 2009.

ESI’s production of rebar, steel reinforcing bars made for the construction industry, grew by 26 per cent, while wire rod grew by 283 per cent.

About 80 per cent Of the finished products produced at the company’s plant at Mussafah in Abu Dhabi are sold on the domestic market. The remaining 20 per cent is exported to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, India, China, the Far East and Pakistan.

ESI stated that 50 per cent of its wire rod and coil production and 15 per cent of its rebar will be exported in 2011.

The steel firm is owned by Abu Dhabi’s state-controlled General Holding Corporation through Abu Dhabi Basic Industries Corporation.