Sohar Port and Freezone has signed a land development agreement with Moon Iron & Steel Company (MISCO) for the construction of a new plant by MISCO.

As per the agreement, the overall project will see the construction of 700m quay wall for an upcoming facility in the eastern area at Sohar Port, set to begin at the end of December 2021. 

The agreement was signed by Mark Geilenkirchen, CEO of Sohar Port and Sasikumar Moorkanat, managing director and CEO of MISCO. 

In a press statement, Geilenkirchen said, “In our journey towards becoming a key logistics hub in the region, we continue our endeavors to attract potential businesses to Sohar Port and Freezone. We aim to utilise the available land as an extension of the current steel and logistics cluster.

“We also seek to keep an eye out for industries that could further develop and strengthen the overall portfolio of services, provided by Sohar Port. 

“This way, we can facilitate the growth of the existing industries and tenants, alongside accommodating new types of services, industries and products. In addition, we will see the generation of 250 local job opportunities upon completion of the plant.”

Moon Iron & Steel Company is a front runner within the local iron and steel sector in Oman. It hosts an annual production capacity of 1.2mn tonnes of high-grade reinforcement bars (rebars), produced by its state-of-the-art steel plant. 

With ground-breaking projects in the pipeline, MISCO is positioned to leverage opportunities in the construction industry, both within Oman and in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region at large.

Moorkanat said, “With the construction of the land and quay wall for the new plant, we will be able to facilitate the handling of direct reduced iron as raw material for producing steel, as well as hot-rolled coil, which can be used for engineersng applications, including pipe manufacturing, cold rolling, galvanising, structural fabrication and more.”

The eastern area at Sohar Port is a prime location, hosting cool water access and proximity to the petrochemical, logistics and food clusters.

Since plots of land with waterfront access is rare in the GCC region, Sohar Port seeks to lease the land out to potential investors and businesses to partner up with. 

With a sizable land area of over 880,000sqm, it is ideal for companies in the logistics and metal sectors. 

The integrated port and freezone complex, provides an easy flow of business between the two, further enhancing convenience for tenants and investors, who are looking to set up at the rapidly expanding hub.