ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)
Arabian Gulf Steel Industries (AGSI) has recorded a verified cradle-to-gate carbon footprint of 139kg of carbon dioxide equivalent per tonne for reinforcing steel produced at its KEZAD facility in Abu Dhabi, according to a statement from KEZAD Group.
The company said the figure was the lowest verified carbon footprint for rebar and was independently verified through an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) under the CARES programme.
AGSI’s operations in Sharjah recorded a carbon footprint of 218kg of carbon dioxide equivalent per tonne. Both figures were below the typical range of 600kg to 700kg per tonne for scrap-based rebar and the nearest comparable publicly available EPD figure of 300kg per tonne, the statement said.
The results cover emissions generated from the raw-material stage until the finished product leaves the factory gate. The company said the figures had been compared using the same measurement rules and production boundaries.
AGSI uses 100% locally recycled scrap and a fully electrified production process. The latest certification follows its achievement of carbon-neutral plant status under the PAS 2060 standard in 2024 and extends the measurement of its environmental performance to the product level.
“This is a defining achievement for AGSI and for the UAE steel industry. Low-carbon steel production is no longer a future ambition. It is measurable, verified and being delivered today,” Asam Hussain, Founder and CEO of AGSI, said.
“Our 2024 carbon-neutral plant milestone established the direction of our journey, and this EPD takes that progress further, setting a new benchmark for what can be achieved in low-carbon steel production,” he added.
The achievement was announced at KEZAD Group’s headquarters in the presence of Mohamed Al Khadar Al Ahmed, CEO of KEZAD Group; Hussain; and Ayhan Tugrul, Chief Operating Officer of CARES.
Abdullah Al Hameli, CEO of Economic Cities and Free Zones at AD Ports Group, said the result demonstrated the performance that manufacturers operating within KEZAD could achieve.
“KEZAD provides the infrastructure, utilities, logistics access and long-term operating base that manufacturers need to grow and invest,” Al Hameli said.
CARES had already certified AGSI’s reinforcing steel for quality and traceability before independently verifying the product’s carbon footprint.
“Verified, product-specific data of this kind is what allows designers, contractors and asset owners to make sound decisions on embodied carbon rather than relying on generic industry averages,” Tugrul said.
Embodied carbon refers to the emissions associated with a material across its life cycle. EPDs provide buyers, developers and project teams with standardised information to assess and compare the environmental impact of construction products.
AGSI is described in the statement as the UAE’s largest private steel manufacturer and recycler. Its low-carbon rebar is intended to provide the domestic construction market with a locally produced option that supports supply reliability and carbon-reporting requirements.