Bahrain steel, AAML to sign new 20yr supply agreement

Bahrain Steel Company will sign a new 20-year iron ore supply agreement with Anglo American Marketing Limited (AAML), said a top company official.

As per the deal, the guaranteed iron ore grade to be supplied is 67 percent Fe and 2pc gangue, said Khalid Al Bassam, Chairman of Bahrain Steel and its parent company, Foulath Holding Co. The new supply agreement, he said, will replace the 2012 agreement.

“The negotiations and the drafting of this new agreement are now in the end stages of completion, and the new agreement is expected to be finalized and signed, at a ceremony next month,” said Dilip George, Group CEO of Bahrain Steel and Foulath Holding Co. The announcement was made on the occasion of the company celebrating the 30th anniversary of production of its iron ore pellets for regional and global consumption from Bahrain.

“This milestone represents not only what we have achieved over the past three decades, but also our standing in the regional and international iron and steel business. We are, today, the world’s largest merchant pelletizer, meaning that unlike other pellet producers, we are independent of any iron ore mine, and are free to choose the most suitable ores from around the world to produce the pellets required by our customers,” said Khalid Al Bassam.

“We are forecasting a major increase of production by Bahrain Steel to 11 million tons a year, compared to the previous years,” he added. The event was held in the presence of more than 100 international and regional leaders from the world of iron ore mining, the iron and steel industry, and the shipping sector at the Al Areen Palace Hotel in Sukheer.