Arabian Gulf Steel Industries (AGSI), the UAE’s largest private steelmaker and recycler, has reported a verified cradle-to-gate carbon footprint of 139 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per ton for reinforcing bar produced at its Abu Dhabi facility, setting a benchmark for low-carbon rebar under the CARES Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) programme.
The result is based on an independently verified EPD covering raw material supply and manufacturing. CO2e expresses the global warming impact of greenhouse gases in terms of the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide. AGSI’s separate EPD for its Sharjah operations reports 218 kg CO2e per ton.
Benchmarking against comparable EPDs from other steel producers places AGSI’s Abu Dhabi rebar footprint below the figures recorded for other products assessed on the same basis. Both AGSI figures are also below the nearest comparable publicly available EPD figure of 300 kg CO2e per ton and the typical range of 600-700 kg CO2e per ton cited for scrap-based electric arc furnace rebar.
The comparison uses the same product category rules, unit of measurement and assessment boundaries, in line with EN 15804+A2. As of September 18, 2026, the Abu Dhabi result was the lowest cradle-to-gate global warming potential declared for carbon steel reinforcing bar among EPDs published under the CARES EPD Programme.
The performance is supported by a production model based on 100pct locally recycled scrap and a fully electrified process, with electricity emissions calculated using a market-based approach. The achievement builds on AGSI’s 2024 carbon-neutral plant milestone, achieved in accordance with PAS 2060.
AGSI Founder and CEO Asam Hussain said the independently verified EPD takes the company’s decarbonization efforts further by providing product-level evidence of its carbon performance. He added that the company would continue to pursue lower-carbon steel production.
AGSI produces steel using recycled scrap and operates in the UAE’s steelmaking and recycling sector. Its product portfolio includes billet, rebar and light and medium sections.