Etihad Rail signs latest partnership with UAE steel manufacturer AGIS
Posted: 20 August 2021 | Global Railway Review | No comments yet
Al Ghurair Iron & Steel (AGIS) is the latest UAE based manufacturer to sign a partnership deal with Etihad Rail, to use the UAE National Rail Network to transport its steel products across the nation.
Etihad Rail will be working with the UAE’s largest producer of galvanised and cold rolled flat steel, to provide efficient and sustainable services 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, Etihad Rail will transport all steel exports.
In response to the agreement, Mohammed Al Marzouqi, Executive Director of the 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 to 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.
“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 to enhance both our existing and future partnerships through enabling extensive rail freight services.”
Abu Bucker Husain, CEO of Al Ghurair Iron & Steel, added: “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 the 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.
Additionally, Stage Two of the UAE National Rail Network continues its development on schedule. Furthermore, customers will benefit from personalised service scheduling solutions. Alongside this, the company will further deliver specialised wagons which can handle a wide variety of freight.
The agreement signed with AGIS, displays Etihad Rail’s sustained role in delivering additional value to the UAE’s and the GCC’s logistics sector through its sustainable rail network. Moreover, the network will also offer long-term support for the UAE’s economic growth. It will offer innovative, competitive, and reliable transport and freight solutions across the region.
Etihad Rail has successfully concluded a range of consensuses with companies in other sectors, including energy and quarrying, however Etihad Rail is also seeking to grow partnership agreements with companies focused on the iron and steel sector.
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Cargo, Freight & Heavy-Haul, Regulation & Legislation, Rolling Stock Orders/Developments, Sustainability/Decarbonisation