GTB Steel opens a rebar plant in Armenia with an investment of $31 million

The official opening of the Armenian-American steel rebar plant GTB Steel took place in Ararat, Armenia. Investments in the project amounted to $31 million. This is stated in a press release from the Armenian Cabinet of Ministers.

Initially, the plant was built in the Yerakh community, but due to constant shelling by the Azerbaijani armed forces in the summer of 2023, it was decided to relocate production.

The opening ceremony was attended by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. He inspected the production lines and familiarized himself with the details of the investment. According to the plant’s management, its annual capacity is 112.8 thousand tons. Currently, the company employs 240 people, but the staff is planned to be increased to 500 within three years.

Two 25-ton induction furnaces, a rolling mill and a rebar production line were purchased for the plant. The main materials for production are scrap metal and sponge iron. End products include steel rebar, pipes, grinding balls, and hot- and cold-rolled coils.

A 40,000 kVA transformer substation was built to ensure the smooth operation of the enterprise, as well as a 110 kV overhead power line and a new cell at Ararat-2 station.

Earlier, the Armenian authorities decided to allocate AMD 3.5 billion in loans to relocate the plant from Yeraskh to Ararat. The reason was the constant shelling of the Yerakh construction site, which resulted in workers being injured in the summer of 2023. GTB Steel is owned by the American companies Virtual Funding and CSE Global Investments.

Armenia imports rebar mainly from Russia and Iran. At the same time, Ukraine did not export long products to the Armenian market in 2022-2024, and in pre-war 2021, these volumes are estimated at 1.8 thousand tons.

Global rebar prices declined in early March. Traders’ sales dynamics were determined by both seasonal and systemic factors. Producers in most regions of the world had to respond by adjusting prices despite stable costs.