Global mining solutions provider Weir Minerals has partnered with Eriez Flotation to design and develop coarse particle flotation (CPF) systems, the companies have announced.

Course particle flotation allows for more efficient separation, while reducing water and energy consumption and producing safer tailings. As a specialist in this area, Eriez’ range of products include the HydroFloat Separator for coarse particle mineral concentration, which delivers the capacity of a density separator while maintaining the selectivity of a flotation device, a statement explained.

“This cutting-edge technology is a step-change improvement over conventional flotation systems,” said Eric Bain Wasmund, PhD, Professional Engineer, Vice President of Eriez Global Flotation Business.

Earlier in August, Sandvik said it won a $32mn order for battery-electric mining equipment. Epiroc also said it had completed its acquisition of drill and spare part specialist RNP México.

The agreement also enhances Weir Minerals’ ‘all-of-mine’ capabilities from the pit to the processing plant, with leading brands such as Warman pumps, Cavex hydrocyclones, GEHO positive displacement pumps, Linatex rubber products and Enduron HPGRs.

“The cooperation allows both companies to better connect the Eriez equipment with the slurry classification and conveying expertise of Weir Minerals. As mining companies look to optimise their plant and processes while also reducing their carbon footprint, we’ll see CPF being more widely adopted,” said Ricardo Garib, Division President of Weir Minerals.

He concluded, “We have an Integrated Solutions team – made up of a diverse range of product experts, process engineers, design engineers and materials scientists, among others – that works closely with miners to deliver reliable solutions that help solve their specific problems. In the current regulatory environment and with an increased focus on ESG issues, miners are being asked to produce more with less and CPF systems are a vital technology that allows them to do that.”

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Source: ME Construction News

Interiors and ambience have transformed over the years, influencing one’s mood and behavior in both personal and commercial settings. As a result, consumers are becoming extremely conscious and particular when it comes to designing spaces or seeking assistance from designers.

In the Middle East, buyers are on the lookout for spaces that encompass a wide range of designs with intricate details, along with a cozy ambience. Today, designing an interior involves pushing the boundaries and exploring novel designs, patterns, and layouts, making way for fresh and innovative ideas in the market. Consequently, consumers from a variety of industries are now looking for businesses that offer quality services quickly, hence inclining toward fit-out companies that produce their own designs and products.

The success of a fit-out company today relies on how well it fulfills the needs of its clients and ensures value at the same time, as customers are willing to spend on their expectations. Over the years, several experts in the field have observed people’s preferences and learned how different industries have different requirements. The ‘design & build’ approach, in which the same organisation takes responsibility for both the design and execution, is one of the most widely used techniques for corporate redevelopment.

In addition, saving time and money on procurement is one of the most significant factors and advantages for fit-out firms, further allowing them to meet tight deadlines and facilitate better coordination. This has been made possible in large by the use of the latest 3D CAD and BIM Design software, which is leveraged by many fit-out companies to provide clients with a full visual design concept.

As a result, customers are searching for businesses that are passionate about great designs, aesthetically pleasing finishes, and the pursuit of excellence. This has resulted in the transformation of many firms, which have adopted the ‘design & build’ model to transform and tailor their interior offerings to better suit the requirements of clients.

Every industry, including retail, food and beverage, commercial spaces, and real estate, has seen an increase in competition as companies race to realise their potential growth. The first step towards achieving this is to create attractive, comfortable spaces that encourage customer growth. In response to this vision, fit-out companies offer more to clients who wish to decorate their leased space with fewer costs, quicker turnaround times, and more flexible design options.

Having a multi-skilled dynamic workforce and wide range of in-house services, which include flooring, ceiling, partition, joinery, upholstery, as well as electrical and mechanical services, ensure that designs and products meet the highest standards of quality and give fit-out firms an upper hand.

Today, the design & build model is known among experts as a highly collaborative, fully integrated process focused on trust, mutual respect, teamwork, innovation, and creative problem solving which has led to the current increase in demand from clients.

Read more:

• Danube Home inks deal to enter Mauritius market
• SLS Dubai Hotel & Residences fitout completed in six months says contractor
• ALEC FITOUT signs agreement with Procurified to enhance its estimation and procurement operations

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Source: ME Construction News

According to a survey conducted by distributor Taqeef and AC manufacturer O General, 47% of UAE residents aim to make their home as environmentally friendly as possible. The survey was commissioned to explore the role of sustainability in people’s lifestyles and purchasing habits.

The survey also found that more than half (55%) considered sustainability a key factor when purchasing electronic products. In addition, it revealed that a third (33%) of respondents consider sustainability to be as important as price in their product choices, and 27% would switch to another electronic brand if the goods offered are better for the environment.

“This survey shows us that environmental credentials are increasingly driving the purchasing choices of UAE consumers as they look for new ways to reduce their carbon footprint. In a region where cooling is considered an essential, it’s really encouraging to see that sustainability is becoming as important as brand and price for many when choosing a new AC,” said Tariq Al Ghussein, Chairman and CEO of Taqeef.

In July 2022, Varun Malhotra, Senior Consultant at Cundall shared his thoughts with Middle East Construction News (MECN) on sustainable trends in the HVAC industry.

He added, “Air conditioning usage represents 70% of the UAE’s electricity use during the summer and this has a huge impact on the environment, but we can mitigate this impact with cooling technology that’s high on energy efficiency.”

The firm noted that 29% of survey participants indicated they are aware that the more sustainable the electronic goods are, the more they save on utility bills. 30% said they preferred if electronic brands focused more on explaining sustainability parameters such as energy efficiency and lower carbon emissions.

Commissioned by Taqeef, the exclusive distributor of O General ACs in the UAE, the YouGov survey polled 1,010 respondents aged 18-50 years old.

In April, Empower said its district cooling network grew by 33.2% between 2018-2021, while – in July – Emicool said it was using Distributed Temperature Sensing technology to reduced chilled water network losses by almost 70% as compared to previous years.

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Source: ME Construction News

Developer Emaar Properties has announced that it will fully acquire the Dubai Creek Harbour development from Dubai Holding for $2.04bn. The announcement was made just after Thursday’s stock market session had closed.

The deal will be equally financed in cash and Emaar shares and is expected to close on 27 September. The 50% payment in cash includes a deferred payment of three equal installments arranged from available cash and banking facilities.

The structure of the deal will see Dubai Holding, which is Dubai ruler His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum’s personal investment vehicle, become the second largest shareholder in the developer. Rothschild & Co said it was the sole financial advisor to Dubai Holding on the deal.

In April 2022, Emaar said it would handover 8,500 residential units by the end of the year.

It is not immediately clear how many shares Dubai Holding will now own; 2022 has seen a 16.5% rise in Emaar’s stock value, with a current share price of $1.55. Emaar’s current biggest shareholder is the Investment Corporation of Dubai, the emirate’s sovereign wealth fund, which owns 24.07% or approximately 1.97m shares.

Dubai Creek Harbour, a residential, retail and commercial real estate development, is expected to cover six sqkm once it is completed. Development of the project temporarily halted in 2020 due to the pandemic, though the emirate’s real estate market has since rebounded.

During the initial outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent lock-down, in May 2020, it was revealed that off-plan transactions in April 2020 were dominated by Villanova and Dubai Creek Harbour for villa/townhouses and apartments respectively.

Emaar has so far recorded $980mn in sales in Dubai Creek Harbour in the first half of the year, compared to $1.143bn in 2021 as a whole. Emaar has previously been regarded as the largest developer in the world, at the time of building Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Mall, when its share price and asset values placed it ahead of the traditional world leaders in the USA and South East Asia.

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Source: ME Construction News

Saudi Arabia has opened its expanded Salwa border crossing with Qatar. The border crossing has been expanded to four times its previous capacity, and can now accommodate 12,000 cars in each direction per day.

According to a report in the Saudi Gazette, Prince Saud bin Naif, Governor of the Eastern Province, inaugurated the new crossing and witnessed a trial operation of the passenger section at the new facility. The opening ceremony was also attended by the Governor of Al-Ahsa, Prince Saud bin Talal bin Badr, and Director General of Saudi Passports (Jawazat) Lt Gen Suleiman Al-Yahya.

The Salwa port is one of the most important border land ports in the Kingdom as it witnesses the exchange of goods and the transit of individuals between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. With the 2022 FIFA World Cup being held in Qatar from November, its importance has recently increased as it is expected to be a crucial link for the transit of travellers from all over the world.

In July 2022, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince unveiled the designs of The Line megaproject.

Speaking on the occasion, Prince Saud highlighted the giant leaps being witnessed by the Kingdom in the development of various sectors. “These have contributed to achieving sustainable development as it was clear and evident in the implementation of many vital projects with a professional touch to become the focus of the world’s attention.

“The new Salwa port would be instrumental in enhancing the movement of vehicles and travellers, in addition to its role in enhancing the volume of trade exchange and economic relations between the two countries,” he said.

The Salwa border posted only reopened in January 2021 after a gap of three and a half years. Saudi Arabia had shut its side of Qatar’s only land border in June 2017 as part of a series of sanctions imposed on its Gulf neighbour. These travel and trade restrictions on Qatar were imposed by Saudi Arabia along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt. The Gulf Summit held in January 2021 saw the lifting of these sanctions.

In April, plans to build three new museums in Doha were announced, while later in the month, Ascott Limited completed the refurbishment of Somerset West Bay Doha. In May, the Raffles Doha and Fairmont Doha said they would open ahead of FIFA World Cup 2022.

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Source: ME Construction News

Reflecting a busy time for the rental company in the region, Johnson Arabia said it has completed steel structure erection and roof installation work as part of the Sohar Sanvira Coke Calcined project in Oman.

The new $150mn project in the Sohar Freezone is part of Oman’s strategy to encourage new developments and areas for growth. The end product that’s produced at the site, calcinated petroleum coke, is to be shipped to and used by the aluminum, steel and titanium sectors all around the GCC.

A range of boom lifts were used on this project including all 28m straight booms for the steel structure erection and the installation of roof sheeting on top of the structure, and a combination of the 28m booms, some 16m booms and 15m scissor lifts for inside the structure.

Johnson Arabia was awarded in the ‘Lifting Achievement of the Year’ category at the 2022 Construction Machinery Middle East Awards.

“This was a new site when we sent our first equipment, so an inspection was done to make sure the ground was level and it was safe to use the equipment around there. The nature of this work was MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) works, in which they used the scissors to help with the installation of some of the processing equipment inside the building,” said Sean Kenny, Sales Manager in Oman.

The scissor lifts had the capability to hold up to six people inside, as well as tools and fire and safety system equipment. Some of the operators also requested training on the units which Johnson Arabia provided.

“This was our first big project in Nizwa so logistically it threw up some challenges in terms of distance for servicing and maintenance. We found some local suppliers for some of the most common items that need to be replaced on machines like hoses and setup credit facilities with them so that going forward we could repair units a lot quicker,” Kenny added.

In May 2022, the firm told Construction Machinery Middle East that it is committed to creating a safer environment for end users and, in August, said it completed installation and erection work for a date processing complex in Oman.

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Source: ME Construction News

Hill International has been selected by Aldar Properties to provide project management support for two projects in Abu Dhabi – Phase One of The Grove Project and Phase Two of Al-Reeman Residences and Reeman Living.

“Saadiyat Grove and Al-Reeman will transform the way UAE residents and visitors live, stay, shop, and play. Hill specialises in managing these complex, ambitious, mixed-use developments for our clients throughout the Middle East, and we will bring our expertise and experience to help ensure Aldar’s vision is realized for this first phase of the Grove and the critical second phase of Al-Reeman,” said Hill Senior Vice President Samer Tamimi.

The Grove Project includes the Grove Heart, Louvre Apartments, and the Dunes Villas. Located in Abu Dhabi City, in the Saadiyat Cultural District, the project is said to be within range of several notable attractions, including the Abu Dhabi Louvre, Guggenheim, and Sheikh Zayed National Museum.

Hill was shortlisted in the ‘Project of the Year: Retail & Public Facilities’ categories at the 2021 Middle East Consultant Awards.

Once complete, the project will be linked through its surrounding plazas to these museums and will also offer access to a variety of retail, resort, and other cultural destinations. This includes branded residential buildings, a shopping mall, a leisure area, a town square and a cinema complex, the statement explained.

Ultimately, Phase One of the Grove Project will encompass more than 440,000sqm of built-up area, forming the Grove Heart and Louvre Apartments. It has an expected completion date of December 2024, and over 45,000sqm built-up area of the Dunes 83 Villas, which has an expected completion date of November 2023.

Hill will provide project management consultancy (PMC) services for the Grove, including project management, construction management, HSE management, cost and schedule control, document control, and other as-needed support, the statement said.

In April 2022, Aldar launched the $544mn second phase of the Alreeman II development.

On the other hand, the Al-Reeman development is located in the southeast area of Abu Dhabi City with access to Shawamekh and Abu Dhabi International Airport. For residents, Al-Reeman is said to offer a variety of living options, including designing and building a custom home on a single plot, apartments ranging from 25sqm to 100sqm, and villas ranging from 300sqm to more than 500sqm.

Amenities include bicycle paths, nurseries, mosques, and community centres. Completion of Phase 2 is anticipated for early 2026, while the apartments in Reeman Living are anticipated by 2024. Hill’s support for Al-Reeman will include project and construction management, working on-site as Aldar’s Owner’s Representative.

Hill Chief Executive Officer Raouf S Ghali concluded, “With construction activity returning to pre-pandemic levels in the Middle East, Hill is exceptionally well-positioned to manage mega-developments like the Grove and Al-Reeman. We expect to see increasing activity throughout the UAE in the coming months, especially in large-scale infrastructure and development programs and projects like these latest awards.

In July, Aldar Properties said it was acquiring four towers in Abu Dhabi in a deal worth $1.7bn.

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Source: ME Construction News

Clean energy project developer NineDot has delivered New York’s first battery energy storage system (BESS). The site is located in the Bronx, New York City and features a 12.32MWh (megawatt-hours) Tesla Megapack system, a solar canopy, and infrastructure ready for bi-directional electric vehicle chargers. The site is described as “a model for how to develop future urban clean energy projects”.

“We are excited to formally cut the ribbon on our ‘Gunther’ Bronx battery energy storage site. Building battery storage sites in a dense urban environment requires an unusual set of skills and experience all brought together in NineDot Energy, as well as support from a wide range of visionary regulators and policy-makers and a terrific group of dedicated partners who we are thanking today,” said David Arfin, NineDot Energy CEO and Co-founder.

Combined with the large NineDot Energy pipeline, the project supports the company’s goal of delivering 400MW of clean energy systems by 2026 that strengthen the local power grid and provide stable, reliable and resilient power to tens of thousands of New York City households and businesses, the firm said.

In June 2022, Big Project Middle East hosted its inaugural Energy & Sustainability Summit. Watch the highlights of that event here.

The project is said to have received $1.2mn from NYSERDA through its Retail Energy Storage Incentive Program and supports New York’s goal of 6,000MW of energy storage by 2030.

Doreen M. Harris, President and CEO, NYSERDA added, “NYSERDA is proud to partner with companies like NineDot Energy that are committed to investing in energy storage projects that allow us to better integrate clean, renewable resources more efficiently. Once completed, this energy storage system will help to reduce electricity use from some of the dirtiest power plants in the Bronx during hot summer days, and will serve as a model for how to advance similar projects in congested urban environments.”

Vicki Kuo, Senior Vice President, Customer Energy Solutions, at Con Edison noted, “This project is special because it combines multiple technologies that will contribute to a clean energy future and make our region a leader in the fight against climate change. The ability of companies like NineDot to innovate, along with the commitment of Con Edison, our customers and other parties, will ensure that our state and city meet their environmental goals.”

In May, Tesla Energy said that it is still aiming for annual energy storage deployments of 1,500GWh by 2030, which would require an average CAGR of 90% over the decade.

NineDot Energy builds its battery storage sites in areas that sit at the intersection of existing infrastructure and high energy demand, the firm pointed out. Adam Cohen, NineDot Energy Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder remarked, “Finding the right sites requires a deep understanding of grid design and regulation along with extensive project-finance and decision-science skills, and we believe NineDot uniquely brings together all these capabilities in one innovative company.”

With battery storage, the Gunther site not only makes the local grid more robust, but also integrates more clean energy into the grid during times of peak demand, the company concluded.

In April, LONGi said it was awarded the solar module supply contract for Saudi’s mammoth The Red Sea project and, in July, Rosatom said it began onsite works on Egypt’s first nuclear plant.

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Source: ME Construction News

When it comes to growth in prime residential capital value, the leader board has traditionally been dominated by US cities. Now, Dubai has become the only non-US city to make it to the top five, ranking fourth for prime residential capital value growth in the first half of 2022, says global real estate advisor Savills.

What’s more, of all the other contenders, Savills says that it believes Dubai is set to perform the strongest for the remainder of 2022. In its bi-annual study of prime residential capital values and rents across 30 major global cities, Savills notes Dubai has recorded strong performance on both prime residential capital growth and rental growth assessments for the period ended June. The findings are published in the Savills Prime Residential Index: World Cities.

In June 2022, real estate brokerage Union Square House (USH) stated that a quarter of homebuyers in Dubai are on the hunt for living spaces that provide mental health benefits.

In Dubai, prime prices grew by 4.7% during the first half of the year, compared to an average growth of only 2.4% across the 30 cities covered by the Savills index. Dubai is also forecast to witness strong capital growth continuing for the remainder of 2022.

One of the factors driving this high performance is the prediction that the UAE will receive 4,000 millionaires relocating to the country in 2022, four times the pre-pandemic norm of 1,000 per annum, the firm noted.

Not even an influx of this calibre has been able to dislodge Miami from the top spot yet however: the US city was ranked first for prime capital value growth in the first half of 2022, recording a half year rise of 12.5%. Lower taxes and a high quality of life encouraged migration from other US locations, fuelling the city’s success. North American cities have performed the strongest in 2022 so far, followed by cities in Europe – with Dubai the only GCC location to buck the trend.

In early July, the Dubai Land Department and Emirates NBD inked a deal to replace rent cheques with online payments, while later in the month, ZāZEN Properties’ Madhav Dhar said that shifting buyers’ behaviour is shaping rising demand in the UAE.

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Source: ME Construction News

South Korean steel giant, SeAH Group, has set up a joint venture (JV) with Saudi energy giant Aramco, to produce special steel pipes.

According to a report in The Korea Economic Report, the JV will accelerate the expansion of the group in the Middle East. SeAH Changwon Integrated Special Steel Corp, the group’s special steel maker, will be involved in the project, which will be established in King Salman Energy Park (SPARK), the under-construction megaproject located between Damman and Al-Ahsa in the Kingdom’s Eastern Province.

In October 2021, Baker Hughes began construction of its OFS regional hub at SPARK.

It added that the factory will have an annual capacity of 17,000 tons. Construction work is scheduled to commence in Q4 of this year, with the start of commercial operations targeted for the first half of 2025.

The announcement follows the news in September last years, which saw SeAH Changwon agree on an investment of $230mn to jointly set up a seamless stainless steel pipe production plant with the Aramco-owned Saudi Arabian Industrial Investments Company (Dussur), the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund and Saudi Basic Industries Corp.

The report added that they completed the JV establishment after reporting the integration to six authorities, including those in South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the European Union, and China.

In January 2022, Spark and Abdullah M Bin Saedan and Sons Real Estate Company inked a $93.2mn deal to develop eco-friendly residential complex.

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Source: ME Construction News