The largest gathering of Arab and global steel industry leaders and manufacturers.
November 03, 2026
Arabic – English 
English – Arabic
November 04, 2026
The session will explore the transformation of the Arab iron and steel industry to enhance its competitiveness and long-term sustainability by building strong, integrated industrial entities capable of investing in research and development. It will also examine the importance of establishing a National Steel Champion that can play a pivotal role in supporting industrial policy.
The session will further address the challenges associated with the uncontrolled expansion of certain production capacities, particularly rolling mills and induction furnaces. It will explore opportunities to strengthen Arab integration in the steel industry by developing interconnected regional value chains, creating a more integrated Arab market, and addressing tariff and non-tariff barriers. The session will also focus on shifting the steel industry’s growth model away from excessive dependence on exports toward building a strong domestic demand base.
The session will examine the key structural transformations reshaping the global steel industry landscape, against the backdrop of shifting supply and demand dynamics, persistent excess production capacity, and slowing demand in several major economies, together with their implications for prices, trade, and investment.
It will also explore the changing geography of global steel demand, the markets and regions expected to drive growth in the coming period, and the position of the Middle East and Arab countries within these shifts, alongside the rise of protectionist policies. The session will further discuss the evolving cost structure of the industry and the impact of raw material, energy, transportation, and financing costs on the competitiveness of steel producers.
The session will examine the impact of emerging technologies on reshaping the future of the Arab steel industry amid accelerating shifts toward digitalization, sustainability, and carbon emissions reduction. It will focus on the role of artificial intelligence, automation, low-carbon production technologies, and clean energy in improving plant efficiency, enhancing quality, and strengthening competitiveness. The session will also explore the opportunities and challenges associated with adopting these technologies, as well as the investment requirements and human capacity development needed to support the future industrial transformation.
The session, presented by McKinsey will explore the role of benchmarking in assessing the performance of iron and steel companies and evaluating their competitiveness against leading regional and global practices. It will focus on the use of operational, financial, technological, and sustainability-related performance indicators to identify performance gaps and improvement opportunities. This can help companies increase productivity, reduce costs, improve energy and resource efficiency, and strengthen their competitiveness in global markets.
This session will examine the current state and future outlook of the steel markets in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Algeria, Iraq and Syria, addressing each market individually in light of differences in demand structures, production capacities, energy costs, infrastructure projects, and trade and investment policies. The session will also discuss the ability of the steel industry in these countries to respond to global developments, ranging from excess production capacity and price volatility to supply chain disruptions and the rise of protectionist measures, while exploring opportunities for growth, expansion, exports and investment in each market.
The session will examine the implications of the global rise in protectionist measures for steel trade flows and market access, and the growing challenges these developments pose for producers across the Arab region. It will also discuss the importance of strengthening Arab trade remedy instruments and developing technical and legal capabilities in anti-dumping, countervailing, and safeguard measures to support fair competition in domestic markets.
The session will further explore mechanisms to address the risks arising from global excess capacity and the potential diversion of low-priced steel products into Arab markets, through more effective systems for monitoring shifts in trade flows and enabling early and timely responses.
The session will examine the transformations reshaping the rules of global competition in the steel industry, driven by carbon pricing, environmental requirements, and the evolving expectations of customers and export markets, and the challenges and opportunities these developments create for the competitiveness of Arab steel producers.
It will also discuss the economics of the green transition, including investment costs, the green steel premium, and the ability of markets to absorb additional costs, while balancing the risks of early investment against the cost of delaying the transition. The session will further explore phased decarbonization pathways combining energy efficiency, digitalization, renewable energy, hydrogen, direct reduction technologies, and carbon capture, utilization and storage, in line with the circumstances and capabilities of each company.
The session will examine the role of direct reduction technologies in supporting the decarbonization pathway of the Arab steel industry, paving the way for a gradual transition toward hydrogen-based production and lower-carbon steelmaking. It will also discuss the requirements for enhancing plant readiness for low-carbon technologies through the development of Arab iron ore resources and expanded concentration and pelletizing capabilities. The session will further explore opportunities to build an integrated Arab value chain encompassing renewable energy, infrastructure, water, storage, transportation, equipment, research and development, and joint investments, thereby strengthening the security of production inputs and supporting the future competitiveness of the Arab steel industry.
The session will examine the challenges of financing long-term investments in the steel industry amid rising capital costs and interest rates, and the need to develop financing instruments suited to the scale of these projects and their long payback periods. It will also address the management of risks arising from fluctuations in energy, currency, and raw material prices and their impact on project economics and credit assessments. The session will further explore opportunities to expand the use of green finance instruments.
The session will examine the future of Arab and global demand for scrap amid the expanding use of electric arc furnaces and accelerating decarbonization efforts, and the resulting intensification of competition for high-quality scrap. It will also discuss ways to improve scrap quality and develop standards for classification, processing, and traceability, while leveraging digitalization to document scrap sources and reduce impurities in line with the increasingly stringent technical requirements of steelmaking. The session will further explore the importance of developing balanced scrap trade policies that address the needs of domestic producers while maintaining market efficiency, alongside strengthening intra-Arab trade and directing surplus scrap to Arab steel plants facing supply shortages.
