Kenya’s Steel Sector at a Glance

The steel sector contributes significantly to Kenya’s growth, with the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade, and Enterprise Development reporting a 13% contribution to manufacturing GDP. Recently, major players such as Apex Steel, Devki, Accurate Steel Mills, Doshi and Jumbo Steel have breathed new life into Kenya’s steel output, signaling hope that prices for steel products may yet reduce. For example, Devki Steel Mills has recently invested over $450 million in a new raw steel mill in Kwale County that will increase steel production in Kenya by 500,000 tonnes.

The newest entrant in the market with a new factory set up in Kilifi County is Jumbo Steel – a subsidiary of Jubilee Jumbo Group. The factory uses recycled steel to produce at least 130,000 tonnes per annum for the local market.

These developments will keep base prices for steel stable and inspire even more building activity.

There are several broad product areas that are clearly discernible from the current players.

developments. These include I-beams for building columns and beams, H-beams, joists and box girders for bridges and foundations, heavy plates for joint connections, and steel decking.

Light gauge steel comprises similar products although smaller in thickness. Light gauge steel members and pre-engineered building solutions are useful for reducing building costs. In particular, light gauge steel building solutions have a wide variety of use cases not limited to industrial and commercial buildings – these could be residential and mini-houses, lodges, and small office buildings.

Some local companies producing fabricated heavy gauge and light gauge structural steel include Steel Structures Ltd, Thermal Steel, and Jumbo Steel Mills.

General structural steel includes angle sections, chequered plates, mild steel plates, galvanized steel, U-channels, flat bars, hoop iron, T-sections, and z-purlins. Most Kenyan steel producers or suppliers deal in general structural steel.

Cold-formed hollow steel is also a major category of products that are locally produced by a vast majority of steel companies, ranging from Devki Steel, Tononoka Steel, and the Abyssinia Group.

Hollow products include circular, rectangular, and square hollow sections. Black and galvanized pipes are also produced locally.

Another category of local steel produced in large quantities is roofing and cladding products. These products may vary from metal-coated and paint-coated sheets, purlins, light steel trusses, tubes, ridges, gutters, open and box profiles, and other steel components. Major companies in the space include MRM, Corrugated Sheets Ltd., and Zenith Steel.

Another major category of steel products produced locally consists of fencing and wire products. These vary from chainlinks, barbed wire, binding wire, BRC and panel mesh, wire rods, galvanized wire, razor wire, and nails.

Some of the major local producers of wire steel products include Abysinnia Group, Jumbo Steel, Accurate Steel Mills, and Tarmal Steel.

Probably the most consistent and widely supplied steel product in the local Kenyan market is reinforcement bars (rebar). Thermomechanically Treated (TMT) bars are the latest innovation to hit the Kenyan market. Unlike other rebar manufacturing techniques, TMT bars don’t require cold twisting, thus improving their tensile strength, bendability, and resistance to corrosion.

Most Kenyan steel manufacturers or suppliers have rebar products in their inventory which has led to highly competitive prices which have benefited local consumers. In fact, before and after Covid, steel prices were amongst the most stable in the category of building products.

These include silos, galvanized steel tanks for water, edible oils, and petroleum products, pressed panels, specialized roofing and cladding systems for warehouses, aircraft hangars, and multirack systems for goods storage.