Use Of Steel In Large Projects In Bangladesh

Bangladesh has a well-reputed history of steel manufacturing. With a growing demand for raw materials and steel manufacturing technologies, the country is turning out to be an emerging steel market. 

However, the pandemic led the Bangladesh government to increase VAT and other regulatory duties. The new VAT laws and factors like greater market competition, high interest rates, and slow growth in private credit have significantly affected the industry. 

Surprisingly, the year 2021 has brought back good times for the steel industry. The demand has increased significantly compared to the previous year. It is driven mostly by the government sector, private individuals, and real estate buyers. 

The Large Projects in Bangladesh

 

1.The Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project

It is an ongoing project being carried out in Bangladesh. The bridge is built across the Padma river and is a railroad bridge that caters to both rail and road traffic. 

The bridge is predicted to be the largest bridge in Bangladesh once it’s completed. Steel is the most integral component in this bridge. Steel provides bridges with the necessary strength to bear loads under tension, shear, and compression. 

2. Dhaka Metro Rail

The Dhaka Metro Rail is an esteemed project being executed by Larsens and Tubro, aka L&T. The complete metro line stretches for 12.5 miles (about 20 kilometers) and connects stations between Uttara and Motijheel in Dhaka. 

Steel is a prominent component in the Dhaka Metro rail project. The requirement for steel used in metro rails is that they should be crack-resistant, wear & tear-resistant, and have high load-bearing capacity. 

In most metro rail projects, the steel incorporated is 0.7 percent Carbon and 1 percent Manganese. 

3. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel

The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel is another ambitious project under construction in Bangladesh. The project aims at developing an underwater expressway in the city of Chattogram, which also has a port. The entire route stretches for nearly 6 miles (about 9.39 kilometers), while the tunnel portion is 2 miles (approximately 3.32 kilometers) long. 

As steel is a versatile material, its use case lies in every project. In the case of an underwater expressway, stainless steel is incorporated. 

Underwater expressways require durable steel, have a very low corrosion rate, have a long service life, and require marginal or no maintenance across the project’s complete lifespan. 

Stainless steel offers all of these features. 

4. Sylhet and Shah Amanat International Airport, Chittagong

The Sylhet and Shah Amanat International airport caters to 1.5 million passengers and 6,000 tonnes of cargo every year. It is managed and operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh and caters to the southeastern part of the city of Chittagong.

Steel is a versatile material that provides high corrosion resistance, longevity, the flexibility to alter structures as per requirement. Airports are constructed to provide large walking space to the passengers and require fewer columns.  Steel offers the right design flexibility to make airports passenger-friendly. 

Major Types of Steel Used in Bangladesh

Manufacturers produce a wide variety of steel products. In terms of its shape, there are three primary types of steel:

• Long steel (MS Steel/TMT bar)
• Stainless steel
• Flat steel (CI sheet and CR coil) 

In Bangladesh, most construction companies use reinforcing steel, also known as MS Rods. Most industrial sectors use long steel products, especially engineering and construction. 

Flat steel also has numerous uses. These are mainly cold-rolled sheets, plates, and coated sheets. Bangladesh has production houses for corrugated galvanized roofing sheets, also known as CI sheets. 

Industry experts claim that Bangladesh provides 81% of roofing and 42% fencing in rural and urban households with CI sheets and galvanized plain sheets (GP sheets). In addition to this, large government projects, NGOs, and agro-based farms utilize vast quantities of CI and GP sheets. 

Bangladesh Steel Industry Brief

The steel industry of Bangladesh has shown tremendous self-reliance and self-sufficiency in the last five years. Various steel industry studies have shown that its annual installed steel capacity accounted for almost 8.5 million MT in 2018. 

The country has consumed almost 7 million MT steel which was just at 1.6 million MT ten years ago. The pandemic did bring a significant slump in the installation and consumption of steel, but its future looks bright now. 

Experts have predicted that by 2030 the steel consumption could touch 18 million tonnes. 

Final Words

Bangladesh has several major players in the steelmaking and installation industry. They have propelled it magnificently in the past decade. 

However, the country’s supply still exceeds the in-house demand. To add to it, the industry also depends on seasonal needs. The demand for steel falls in the monsoons while it grows in the winters. 

The government of Bangladesh majorly drives the country’s steel consumption. Government steel consumption pushed to a massive 35% from just 15% ten years back. Thus, the market is ever-growing.

Bangladesh is turning out to be one of the fastest-growing economies in terms of steel consumption and usage. Many new players have come into the market, and the competition in the steel industry is growing every year.