Ray O’Rourke is considering importing steel from Dubai to the UK as part of a plan to utilise a massive production factory he has assembled in the region.
O'Rourke's move could avert a possible crisis should the world's economy slow down and steel prices spiral out of control.
It is understood that O'Rourke has made inquiries with the UK steel accreditation organisation CARES about registering this activity in the UK. A source close to the firm said: “O’Rourke has set up an absolutely gigantic cut-and-bend steel factory in Dubai to service all of his local projects.
“The overheads are very low and he imports a large majority of the raw steel from Turkey at a cheaper rate.
“It remains to be seen whether this can work in terms of cost and whether he will actually press ahead. The costs of importing large amounts of steel to the UK would be huge and it is unlikely he would sell it on to other contractors once it was in the UK.”
Ray is very good at turning a threat into an opportunity
Source close to Laing O’Rourke
The source added there was widespread concern across the industry about the rising price of oil, and iron ore, which is in turn having a knock-on effect on the cost of steel. He said: “Ray is very good at turning a threat into an opportunity and this could be his way of finding a niche in the UK.”
A Laing O'Rourke spokesperson confirmed that the firm had a large-scale “reinforcement bending facility” in Dubai servicing local projects.
The spokesperson, however, was unable to comment on whether or not the facility would be used to import steel to the UK.
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