Tononoka Rolling Mills Limited has announced plans to construct a Ksh 393 million plant in Nairobi’s Dandora Phase 5 area. This is in a bid to grow its market share in the local steel manufacturing market.
The proposed installation of a hot structural section mill will be set up in an area zoned for industrial use. It currently features an existing rolling mill, office block, and fuel storage facility.
The proposed plant is expected to have an output of twenty tonnes per hour. The firm which began in the 1980s as a hardware dealer is targeting to bridge the country’s annual demand for steel, which is estimated at between 480,000 tonnes to 600,000 tonnes.
Over the years, Tononoka has grown to include production of various steel products. This is including TMT bars, hollow sections, round deformed bars, sheets, plates, wire products, and angles among many other products.
To help reduce environmental destruction, by reusing and recycling, the company heavily relies on converting waste metal scrap into valuable reusable construction materials.
According to the environmental impact assessment study disclosing the project, the hot rolling section mill will be situated off Komarock Road. It will heat billets (primarily from scrap metals) to various finished products such as angle lines, channels, flats, square, beams, and IPE sections.
To expand its footprint in the region, and satisfy the growing local demand, Tononoka Rolling Mills Limited is angling for the lucrative regional market.
“Statistics show that metal and steel products are currently Kenya’s largest manufactured goods exported within the Comesa and the East African Community (EAC),” read an excerpt from the company’s EIA report.
The Tononoka Group is owned by Kenyan industrialist Navin Savla. While it is estimated that the country spends about Ksh. 60 billion per year on importation of steel, Tononoka Steel has noted that the import bill can be reduced if high-quality steel is produced locally.
