China Road and Bridge Corporation will buy more than 5,250 tonnes of steel worth over $3.7 million from Kenyan manufacturers for the construction of the standard gauge railway.

It will be the first large-scale local purchase of steel by the firm since the construction of the railway from Mombasa to Nairobi began. The firm has previously bought smaller consignments from different local steel makers.

Five steel manufacturers presented their bids to supply the steel bars to CRBC at the firm’s offices in Nairobi on April 24. The Chinese firm will select one or more suppliers from the prequalified list of suppliers.

‘‘CRBC will evaluate the tenderer’s business, service ability, quality provence and price as stated in the bidding document. Eventually, one or several suppliers will be awarded the tender,” said James Chen, CRBC business manager of department for external relation and co-operation for SGR project.

The companies that presented their bids are Apex Steel Mill Corporation, Steel Makers Ltd, Devki Steel Mills, Prime Steel Ltd and Tononoka Steel.

The firms said the industry has the capacity to both provide steel for the construction of the new railway and supply local steel-intensive industries. They allayed fears of shortages or spikes in the prices of steel during the SGR project construction phase as the industry has in the past supplied steel to other mega projects in Kenya and the region while servicing local industries.

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Mr Chen said the firm was keen on buying most of the materials used in the SGR project locally.

“Local suppliers can supply materials more efficiently and in timely manner, which is beneficial to material planning and inventory management. At the same time, if material is procured locally, we can avoid complicated import and transportation procedures,” he said.

He added that except for rail and locomotives, materials such as cement, steel, fuel and ballast are being sourced locally.

The steel is expected to meet demand for a period of about three months. China Road and Bridge Corporation expects to undertake another round of procurement for steel towards the end of this year.

CRBC has a presence in over 50 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and America, where it has undertaken mega infrastructure works.
In Kenya, CRBC’s recent projects include the Nairobi eastern, northern and southern bypasses.