1. Product: Steel profiles are products rolled out of billets. They are generally produced in the form of rods, angles, channels, squares, hexagons etc from steel billets by using rolling mills. The main applications are for structural fabrication, house construction projects, and machinery construction in engineering industry.
2. Rationale: Building construction in many cities of the region is rapidly growing. People want to build condominium, high-rise buildings for apartment purpose. Private firms construct offices, houses, stores and factory buildings all using steel profiles. Presently there is no factory that produces steel profile in the region. It is imported mainly from Addis Ababa and other regions. The demand however, increases with the growth of building construction. It is very essential to have a steel production plant in the region to satisfy the demand and create employment.
3. Demand: The end user of steel profiles (structure) is the building construction sector. Recent data shows that average yearly consumption of steel in the country is more than 5000 tons per year and the construction sector is growing rapidly to more than 10% annually. The same growth of building sector and the demand for steel fabricator is assumed to exist in the region and it is high time to have a plant that produce steel structure in the region.
4. Supply of Raw Material: The main materials are: -
- Steel billets
- Rail and plate spares
- Miscellaneous consumables/lubricants.
5. Production Process and Technology
a) Process
- Steel billets are heated in furnace around 12000C.
- White-hot billets are rolled out to desired measure in rolling mills.
- Physical and chemical test are carried for standard qualification.
b) Machinery and Equipment
- Rolling mill
- Pre-heating oil fired furnace with oil burner
- 600 KVA transformer
- 300 HP motor
- Heavy duty lath
- Billet shearing machine
- Sharper 24''
- Pillar drilling machine, 25 mm
- Double ended pedestal grinder
- Pump set motor, water pipe and overhead tools for water.
- Coil winding machine
- Various tools
- Motor 5 HP and 10 HP
- Weighing scale, platform type 5 tons capacity.
6. Estimated Investment: The total investment cost is estimated to be Birr 10 million which include building machinery and equipment and working capital.
7. Location: The main plant that produces steel profiles has to be based in the industrial towns of Bahrdar and Combolcha.