19, August 2021: Etihad Rail has signed a partnership agreement with Al Ghurair Iron & Steel (AGIS), the UAE’s largest producer of galvanised and cold rolled flat steel, to use the UAE National Rail Network to transport the steel producer’s product across the nation.

Etihad Rail will be providing efficient and sustainable services by transporting steel products from AGIS’s manufacturing facilities through the rail freight terminal in the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi (ICAD) to Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi and Jebel Ali in Dubai for exports. 

 

Speaking on the agreement, Mohammed Al Marzouqi, Executive Director of Rail Relations Sector at Etihad Rail, commented: “Our company consistently seeks more robust partnerships with a range of entities, delivering services that are integrated directly with clients’ business models and further promote their efficiency. Our agreement with AGIS will facilitate the transport of their products through the UAE National Rail Network, connecting industrial hubs, exports points, and commercial centres. Our rail network drives further cost and time savings, increases operational efficiency in comparison to road-based transport, and enables further market expansion opportunities for our partners at AGIS.

 

Al Marzouqi added: “The addition of AGIS to our roster of partners demonstrates how Etihad Rail benefits businesses in industries across the UAE. Etihad Rail is looking to bring those benefits to all industries across the UAE, particularly the iron and steel industry. Our customers trust us for our innovative, sustainable, and competitive transport solutions and services. In doing so, they drive our ability to meet the demands of the market and enhance both our existing and future partnerships through enabling extensive freight services.”

 

Abu Bucker Husain, CEO of Al Ghurair Iron & Steel, said: “We are confident Etihad Rail will provide world class facilities. Our collaboration with the company will immensely boost our continuous endeavour to improve customer satisfaction. Transporting steel coils by rail is both reliable and environmentally friendly, reducing both time and damage caused by road transport. Additionally, rail transport allows for shorter timeframes for import clearance of hot rolled steel coils. With such improvements in our supply chain, galvanised steel coils made in UAE will find a wider customer base.”

 

AGIS is a leading manufacturer of high-quality steel sheets and galvanised steel, widely used in the UAE’s construction sector. With AGIS’s products being exported to over 40 nations, the producer will leverage Etihad Rail’s facilities at ICAD to reduce transportation costs and time.

Stage Two of the UAE National Rail Network continues to be developed on schedule. Customers will benefit from customised service scheduling solutions. Additionally, the company will deliver specialised wagons which can handle a wide variety of freight.

 

The agreement signed with AGIS demonstrates Etihad Rail’s sustained role in delivering additional value to the UAE’s and the GCC’s logistics sector through its sustainable rail network. The network will additionally offer long-term support for the UAE’s economic growth, offering innovative, competitive, and reliable transport and freight solutions across the region.

 

Etihad Rail has successfully concluded a range of agreements with companies in other sectors, including energy and quarrying, but is looking to grow partnership agreements with companies focused in the iron and steel sector.