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EMSTEEL has delivered another strong quarter, underscoring its momentum as one of the region’s most resilient and forward-looking industrial players. Group revenue rose 13 per cent year-on-year in Q3 2025 to Dhs2.17bn while in the first nine months of year, the group’s revenue rose 10 per cent to Dhs6.5bn.
The group delivered strong operational performance, increasing total steel sales volumes by 9 per cent year-on-year (YoY).
Strong UAE market demand and optimised capacity utilisation enabled the full conversion of semi-finished products into finished goods to better serve customers. As a result, sales volumes of finished steel products rose by 21 per cent YoY to 2.4 million. Additionally, cement and clinker sales volumes rose by 17 per cent YoY to 2.3 million tonnes.
Additionally, under the leadership of group CEO engineer Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi, the company is not only expanding its operational footprint but also accelerating its decarbonisation drive through initiatives such as the TrueGreen framework, the electric process gas heater pilot, and green hydrogen readiness.
In this interview with Gulf Business, Al Remeithi discusses EMSTEEL’s performance, market outlook, and how the company is positioning itself at the centre of the UAE’s industrial growth and global transition toward low-carbon steel production.
How would you summarise EMSTEEL’s performance in Q3 2025 and for the first nine months of the year, what were the major drivers and where did you face your toughest challenges?
EMSTEEL delivered a strong performance in Q3 2025 and across the first nine months of the year, achieving solid growth in both revenue and profitability despite persistent global headwinds. Group revenue rose 13 per cent year-on-year in Q3 2025 to Dhs2.17bn, bringing nine-month revenue to Dhs6.5bn, up 10 per cent compared to 2024. EBITDA increased 108 per cent in Q3 and 28 per cent year-on-year for the first nine months, reaching Dhs823m, reflecting stronger execution, efficiency, and product mix optimisation.
The main growth drivers were robust domestic demand, particularly in rebar, alongside higher finished steel and cement sales. The company’s focus on value-added, higher-margin products underpinned profitability, supported by cost discipline and operational excellence.
The toughest challenges came from global pricing pressure, rising imports, and ongoing trade tensions, which continue to reshape international steel flows.
However, EMSTEEL’s strong local base, efficient operations, and diversified portfolio allowed it to maintain solid performance and strengthen its financial position, ending the quarter with a net cash balance of Dhs711m.
With your outlook for the remainder of 2025, what are the key risks and opportunities you’re seeing in terms of volumes, margins and regional market dynamics?
Looking ahead to the remainder of 2025, EMSTEEL remains cautiously optimistic. Domestic and regional demand continues to be supported by strong infrastructure and housing activity in the UAE and GCC, providing visibility for stable volumes through year-end. We expect continued momentum in value-added steel, particularly rebar and wire rod, while the cement business remains resilient on the back of ongoing construction projects.
The main opportunities lie in expanding our TrueGreen low-carbon steel portfolio and capturing demand from regional mega-projects linked to energy, industrial, and urban development. Our strong balance sheet and operational efficiency also give us flexibility to invest in future growth and innovation.
On the risk side, global pricing pressure and elevated imports remain key challenges, as Chinese and Turkish exports continue to weigh on margins across international markets. Trade policy uncertainty and raw material cost volatility may add further pressure. However, EMSTEEL’s efficiency gains, disciplined cost control, and focus on high margin, differentiated products position the Group well to sustain profitability and competitiveness through these headwinds.
You’ve recently launched a Green Finance Framework to support low‑carbon steel and cement production. How will this affect your investment strategy and execution in the near term?
The Green Finance Framework is a key enabler of EMSTEEL’s sustainability and growth strategy. It aligns our financing structure with our decarbonisation roadmap, ensuring that future investments directly support low-carbon steel and cement production. This framework allows us to access sustainability-linked funding at competitive rates, strengthening our ability to reinvest in efficiency, technology, and clean energy initiatives.
In the near term, it will help accelerate projects such as our Electric Process Gas Heater pilot, renewable energy integration, and further expansion of our TrueGreenproduct line. These initiatives not only reduce emissions but also enhance our competitiveness in markets where sustainability credentials are becoming a key differentiator.
EMSTEEL has signed a partnership to use steel slag in cement production, which is central to your decarbonisation agenda. How do you expect this circular economy approach to impact your production cost, sustainability credentials and competitive positioning?
The initiative to use steel slag in cement production is a major step forward in EMSTEEL’s circular economy journey. Transforming steelmaking by-products into a valuable raw material for cement reduces waste and lowers reliance on natural clinker, which helps cut both emissions and production costs.
This integration enhances efficiency across our steel and cement operations, reducing the group’s overall carbon footprint while improving cost competitiveness. It also strengthens EMSTEEL’s position as a sustainability leader, demonstrating how industrial symbiosis can deliver tangible environmental and economic benefits.
In the long run, this circular model supports our goal of reducing emissions by 40 per cent in steel and 30 per cent in cement by 2030, while reinforcing our reputation as a trusted, low-carbon materials partner for infrastructure and construction projects across the region.
In manufacturing, you’ve committed to installing electric process‑gas heaters (e‑PGH) at your DRI plant and advancing green hydrogen use. How are these initiatives progressing and what timelines do you foresee for them contributing meaningfully to your operations?
The Electric Process Gas Heater (ePGH) project marks a significant milestone in EMSTEEL’s decarbonisation roadmap. The pilot unit, launched earlier this year at our DRI plant, has already demonstrated strong results, eliminating more than 2,200 tonnes of CO₂ annually by replacing gas-fired heaters with electric alternatives. Building on this success, we plan to expand ePGH technology across additional lines over the next two years as part of our wider energy transition programme.
In parallel, we are advancing our green hydrogen readiness strategy to integrate hydrogen into future DRI production. Feasibility studies and infrastructure assessments are underway to ensure scalability and reliability once regional hydrogen supply becomes commercially viable.
Given the UAE’s infrastructure and industrial growth ambitions, how is EMSTEEL positioning itself to support the national agenda, and at the same time differentiate itself internationally in the green steel and building materials space?
EMSTEEL is deeply aligned with the UAE’s industrial growth and sustainability agenda. We are expanding our production of high-strength, value-added steel to support the country’s infrastructure, energy, and manufacturing projects under Operation 300bn, while ensuring our materials meet the highest global standards of quality and sustainability. Through the TrueGreen brand, we are delivering low-carbon steel with verified, transparent emissions data – enabling builders, developers, and financiers to meet their net-zero goals.
Internationally, EMSTEEL is differentiating itself as a regional pioneer in green steel and circular manufacturing. Our ResponsibleSteelcertification, MSCI “AA” ESG rating, and advances such as the electric process gas heater and hydrogen-based rebar position us among the world’s most responsible steel producers.
This dual focus – supporting national development while leading in industrial decarbonisation – ensures EMSTEEL remains both a key enabler of the UAE’s growth ambitions and a globally recognised benchmark for sustainable, next-generation steel production.
What is your outlook for the coming year for the global and regional steel sector?
The global steel sector is expected to remain mixed in the near term, with moderate demand growth but continued pricing pressure. Global consumption is stabilising after two challenging years, and while China’s exports remain high, policy support in key economies and recovering industrial activity should bring gradual balance to supply and demand by late 2026.
Regionally, the outlook is more positive. The GCC continues to be one of the world’s strongest growth markets, driven by large-scale infrastructure, energy transition, and industrial diversification projects under national development plans such as the UAE’s Operation 300bn and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. Steel demand across the region is projected to grow by around 4–5 per cent in 2026, supported by these structural drivers.
For EMSTEEL, this environment presents both opportunity and responsibility. Our focus on value-added and TrueGreen steel, strong financial base, and operational efficiency ensure we are well-positioned to capture growth, protect margins, and continue leading the transition toward sustainable, low-carbon steel production in the region.
