Reuters reported that Maghreb Steel aims to more than triple its sales in the next four years and expects to list on the Casablanca stock market in 2012.
Mr El Fadel Sekkat chairman of Maghreb Steel said that the company will begin making hot rolled steel next month after 2 years of investments worth USD 500 million. We will produce 1 million tonnes of hot rolled coils and 500,000 tonnes of sheets. We'll need 2 to 3 years to get to that level.
Mr Sekkat said that half of the hot rolled steel would be exported and the company was aiming for annual turnover of USD 1 billion within 3 to 4 years, once all its new facilities were up to speed. About half of the company's sales come from Morocco and the rest is from exports to such countries as Spain, Portugal, France, Turkey and Russia.
Mr Sekkat said that the company has put off an IPO until 2012, when it could list 20% to 30% of its capital. He said that an IPO was on the cards for us, but we've delayed it a bit because we felt the stock market was in a bad way. The situation needs to improve, but we also prefer to come to the stock market with our units already producing, and not just with a business plan. We think we'll do it in 2012.
He forecast that demand for steel in Morocco was growing by 8% to 10% per year, an expansion that has not been threatened by the global economic downturn. Even this year, the worst in our history, in Morocco we still have growth. Demand would continue growing and once the cold rolled steel units reach capacity the company could build more.
He added that Maghreb Steel could supply a new Renault SA automobile factory near the northern city of Tangier after the company was approached by Renault's suppliers.
Moroccan investors see Maghreb Steel as one of the leading candidates to list on the Casablanca Stock Exchange and some analysts have said it could have an initial public offering in 2010, which would give the bourse a boost after a year of no new listings.
Maghreb Steel, which is based in the outskirts of Casablanca, has annual sales of around USD 300 million. It currently has the capacity to produce about 500,000 tonnes of cold rolled steel and more than 200,000 tonnes of galvanized and pre painted coils per year.
(Sourced from Reuters)
