|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES: Constructing steel prices | Aluminium prices on downward trend | Steel: Precious heavy metal
Copper is a familiar material to those in working in the electromechanical side of construction due to its prevalence in electrical wiring.
It is also widely used in heating systems given its great ability to conduct heat and electricity and its resistance to corrosion.
Demand for the metal may increase greatly over the next few years in the GCC given its use in high voltage power transmission and a flurry of recent project announcements in that sector.
Story continues below 
In June, for example, Saudi Electricity, the state-owned power giant, revealed that it had sealed a deal with GDF Suez and two other firms to build a 1,730-megawatt power plant – a SR7.9 billion project.
The spate of rail projects, in particular the first stage of the Union Railway in Abu Dhabi, and the prospective metro systems of Riyadh and Makkah, will all demand high quantities of copper-based cables.
Saudi Cable Company has been one such beneficiary. Salim Rashid, marketing manager, explains the company recently won its first contract for 380 kV cables in Jeddah from Saudi Electricity Company, for SR100 million.
“There are only a few who have this capacity to produce cables of such high voltage,” he says. He also cites the 1,500 km it is supplying to the latest phase of the redevelopment of Doha – the biggest cable contract in the region.
SCC produces copper itself through its operating division SCC Materials. Rashid explains that the company stopped exporting the 70,000 tonnes of copper rod it produces in order to fuel its own big orders.
Nevertheless, he describes the Saudi market as ‘on an even keel’ over the last few months.
| Articles | |
| Companies | |
 |
Site Map
 |
 |
 |
 |
|  |
\
FEATURED COMMENT
Nice article, Ben. Thanks for sharing. I would only make a soft objection to the word 'adamant' when you refer to Franci