Steely RMI Plc, a local steel bar manufacturing company, listed 1.23 billion birr for the supply of 50,084 tones of reinforcement bars for public housing projects in Addis Ababa, it was learnt.Steely RMI lists 1.2 billion birr for reinforcement bar bid – Ethiopia Construction

 

It is to be recalled that according to the technical evaluation results announced by the Addis Ababa City Government Public Procurement and Property Disposal Agency (PPPDA), out of four local steel bar manufacturing companies— Habesha Steel Mills Plc, C & E Brothers Plc, and Abyssinia Integrated Steel Plc, Steely was the only company that made it to the financial evaluation stages.

The companies were evaluated in pre-qualification, technical and post-qualification stages. As per the request of the enterprise, the agency invited 12 local companies and only eight came forward and bought the tender document, yet only four of them submitted their bid proposals.

The remaining three companies failed to progress to the financial stages for different reasons. Their failure has been attributed to factors such as inability to produce renewed trade licenses, confirmed standard licenses and test results. Among the three companies the test results of the rebar’s specification didn’t match with the one stated in the bid document.

In the latest purchase, the enterprise invited bidders for the supply of 10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 16mm, 20mm, and 24mm reinforcement bars. The amount in tones for each grade size is 12,519, 6,692, 6,994, 9,308, 5,882, and 8,689, respectively.

According to the financial result announced on October 9, the only bidding company Steely listed, 25,916.47 birr, 24,150.97 birr, 23,647.05 birr, 24,097.47 birr, 24,773.1 birr and 24, 773.1 birr for one tone of 10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 16mm, 20mm, and 24mm reinforcement bars, respectively.

The Agency also gave a notice that it will receive complaints within five working days after the opening of the financial proposal.

The price offered by Steely overlapped with the country’s currency devaluation of 15 percent early this week, which is expected to have an impact on the price of commodities.

According to a price list from Consumer Protection and Trade Practice Authority, two weeks ago, one Berga, a local measurement for both local made and imported reinforcement bars in Addis Ababa (Megenagna and Teklehimanot), was sold from 190 birr to 1,055 birr.

This bidding process, which is now conducted by the agency on behalf of the Addis Ababa City Saving Houses Development Enterprise (AASHDE), came a year after a controversial purchase by the latter. It is to be recalled that a local competitive tender for the purchase 222,000 metric tons of re-enforcement bars was conducted by the enterprise a year ago.

However, the controversial bid was later cancelled after financial opening and evaluation. Limited budget was said to be the reason behind cancellation.

On the other hand, industry sources were attributing the cancellation to exorbitant prices quoted by bidders.

Established in 2004, Steely is owned by Ethiopians. The factory is located in Bishoftu, Oromia Regional States.

Tefera Lemma, general manager of company, was not available for comment despite a repeated effort by The Reporter.

With the growing steel demand from the economy, Steel consumption is also increasing from time to time. According to the Metal Industry Development Institute, the country’s annual per capita metal consumption reached 28.6 kg.

Over the past one month, the price of steel bar has risen on the global market. According to the London Metal Exchange, on July 31, 2017 the price of steel bar was USD 460 per tons. It has now soared to USD 523.

London Metal Exchange is a global platform for metal exchange and trading.