A 10-member delegation of Al-Tuwairqi Group of Companies, Saudi Arabia, the largest billet making plant in private sector arrived here.
According to a Group statement on Sunday, the delegation is headed by Al-Tuwairqi Group Vice-Chairman and CEO Tariq Barlas along with Ishaq Khan.
The delegation is scheduled to have a follow-up meeting in Karachi with Industries and Production Minister Liaqat Ali Jatoi on January 13 for the setting up of a steel billet plant near Pakistan Steel Mill, Karachi.
The Al-Tuwairqi Group of Companies is one of the leading business concerns in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since 1971.
It made phenomenal growth in the last two decades and in 1999, it made its entry into the top hundred companies in Saudi Arabia.
The Group consists of (1) Al-Ittefaq Steel Products Factory, (2) National Steel and Iron Factory, (3) Al-Faisal Product Factory, (4) Tiepco-the international electrical product establishment, (5) Thames Steel Limited, and (6) SMD Scientific and Medical Division.
The Group agreed to invest in Pakistan in Port Qasim Steel Mill area, Karachi. The investment will be of $100 million.
GROUP PROFILE: The Al-Tuwairqi Group commenced its operations as a trading business in 1977. In 1989, it acquired an ailing re-rolling mill from Saudi Industrial Development Fund-a government-owned financial institution that provides loans to set up manufacturing units in Saudi Arabia.
The owners named the unit as Al-Ittefaq Steel, re-furbished the production facilities, and started operations in 1990, at a meagre 12,000 tonnes per annum.
Over the years the rated capacity of the re-rolling mills has increased to about 750,000 metric tonnes per year.
At present, the Al-Tuwairqi Group operates the largest steel re-rolling mills in the private sector in Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) area. It has plans to vertically integrate its operations, and go into down stream industries, the statement added.