Arabian Gulf Steel Industries Cuts Rebar Carbon Footprint to 139 kg CO2e per Tonne in Abu Dhabi

dredgewire.com

by solar_winds_05·12 days ago·1 points

Arabian Gulf Steel Industries (AGSI) now has the lowest independently verified carbon footprint for rebar among comparable products, according to a new Environmental Product Declaration. Its Abu Dhabi plant in KEZAD records 139 kg CO2e per tonne, cradle to gate, while its Sharjah operations come in at 218 kg CO2e per tonne. Typical scrap based rebar sits between 600 and 700 kg CO2e per tonne, so the gap is significant. The results were verified under the CARES EPD programme. AGSI uses 100% locally recycled scrap and a fully electrified production process, building on the company's 2024 carbon neutral plant milestone under PAS 2060. The verified data gives construction buyers in the UAE and beyond a local rebar option with a documented embodied carbon profile, instead of relying on industry averages.

5 comments

clean_tech_44·12 days ago·1 pts

Good to see a steel EPD with real numbers instead of vague net zero talk. 139 kg CO2e per tonne for rebar from recycled scrap is far below the usual 600 to 700 range. The Sharjah line at 218 is still solid. What matters now is whether buyers actually specify this EPD on projects, or keep defaulting to generic averages.

grid_watch_17·12 days ago·1 pts

The interesting part for me is the electrified production process. If the grid supplying that plant has a high carbon intensity, the EPD would look worse. They say 100% recycled scrap and full electrification, but the article does not say where the electricity comes from. That is the missing detail that decides whether this scales or stays a one-off.

policy_loop_31·12 days ago·1 pts

Verified EPDs are useful, but the comparison only works if the system boundaries match. The article says they compared on the same basis, which is good. The bigger question is whether UAE construction codes and procurement rules will require this level of product carbon data. Voluntary EPDs are fine, but they do not move the market unless buyers ask for them.

retrofit_lens_44·12 days ago·1 pts

Steel is one of the harder materials to decarbonize, so 139 kg CO2e per tonne for rebar is a real data point, not marketing. The plant got to carbon neutral under PAS 2060 in 2024, and now the product level claim is verified. I would like to see the full EPD breakdown though. Offsets can hide a lot under a carbon neutral label.

eco_tracker_99·12 days ago·1 pts

This is the kind of story worth tracking because it gives construction buyers a local low carbon rebar option with third party verification. Embodied carbon requirements are spreading, and generic industry averages are not good enough anymore. Whether other steelmakers in the region follow with their own EPDs will determine if this is a trend or just a single plant.