Two Local Firms Vie to Supply Bulk Rebar

Aug 24 , 2019. By SELAMAWIT MENGESAHA ( FORTUNE STAFF WRITER )

Two local companies are vying to supply 21,761tn of rebar for various projects in the city with an estimated value of over 300 million Br.

C & E Brothers Steel Factory and Mohammed Hassan Adem Import & Export made the financial offers for the supply of the rebar. The rebar will be used for the construction of middle-income housing schemes and other projects that will be undertaken by the city’s Roads and Water & Sewerage authorities.

Held on August 16, 2019, the financial offer of C & E Brothers and Mohammed Hassan Adem Import & Export were opened at the premises of the Addis Abeba Public Procurement & Property Disposal Agency located in Lideta District, Senga Tera. The Agency is procuring nine types of rebar with thicknesses that range between six millimeters and 32mm.

C & E Brothers vied for two types of steel having diameters of 12mm and 16mm. For the two types of steel C & E Brothers offered the same price of 37,790 Br for a tonne.

C & E Brothers, a company that has been in business since 2008, produces different types of rebar at its plant located in Bishoftu. The factory was established with one billion Birr in capital and has an annual production capacity of 500,000tn of rebar.

Mohammed Hassan bid for five types of rebar, offering 47,092 Br for a tonne of 12mm rebar and 49,141 Br for a tonne of 16mm rebar. The company also offered 48,582.90 Br a tonne for 20mm rebar, 48,672.80 Br for a tonne of 14mm rebar and 47,752.50 Br for a tonne of 24mm rebar.

Floated on February 26, 2018, the bid drew the interest of over 30 companies. But six of them submitted their technical and financial offers. While the two finalists reached the financial evaluation stage, Abyssinia Integrated Steel, Tokuma Fite Steel Importer, Habesha Steel and Steely RMI did not clear the bar for the technical stage.

Except for Habesha Steel, the three companies filed complaints about the technical evaluation result to the Agency first and then to the city's Finance Bureau.

"The Agency and the Bureau validated the technical result, stating that no error was made," said a source at the Agency. "Then we proceeded with the financial opening."

In the country, there are about 190 companies registered to manufacture iron and steel products. These companies have an annual production capacity of 5.9 million tonnes of steel a year. Still, the country spends over 1.3 billion dollars a year to procure 6.6 million tonnes of billets to meet the demand.

Abebe Dinku (Prof.),  a civil engineer and a university lecturer with over three decades of experience, says that the price of rebar is very expensive in the country due to the severe foreign exchange shortage.

As of August 21, 2019, the price of rebar in the international market stood at 444.5 dollars a tonne, according to the London Metal Exchange.

"On top of that, the import of rebar is monopolised by a small number of importers," said Abebe, "which caused the price inflation."

PUBLISHED ON Aug 24,2019 [ VOL 20 , NO 1008]