Miami: KEZAD Group today announced the launch of Metal Park, the world’s first pay-as-you-grow metals ecosystem in Abu Dhabi, in the presence of Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, and Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and Group CEO of AD Ports Group.
According to Emirates News Agency, the launch was also attended by Abdullah Al Hameli, CEO of Economic Cities and Free Zones, AD Ports Group, Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi, Group CEO of Emirates Steel, and senior KEZAD Group and government officials. The 450,000 sqm Metal Park, set up by the company with an investment of AED430 million, introduces a new industrial operating model designed to transform how downstream metals businesses access infrastructure, logistics, and specialist services. This model replaces the traditional capital-heavy and fragmented industrial setup with a fully integrated, scalable ecosystem.
The new model allows metals companies to grow in line with demand while avoiding large upfront investment, thus improving capital efficiency, speed-to-market, and operational predictability. Unlike conventional industrial parks, Metal Park, which operates both in the Free Zone and the Mainland, is now live and fully operational. Its Production Hub, Storage Hub, and Business Centre are already active, enabling metal to be processed on-site by its 27 members. The ecosystem provides shared specialist capabilities, secure high-throughput storage, and integrated commercial and operational support, forming a functioning industrial system.
Integrated logistics infrastructure, enabled through KEZAD Group and AD Ports Group, ensures seamless connectivity from production to storage and outbound movement. This integrated setup reduces friction across the value chain and improves throughput, reliability, and speed-to-market for manufacturers operating within the ecosystem. Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi remarked that Metal Park represents a new chapter in industrial development at KEZAD, highlighting the benefits of the pay-as-you-grow model, which lowers barriers to entry and provides manufacturers with an industry-specific environment.
Vahid Fouladkar, CEO of Metal Park, emphasized that the initiative is about creating an operating model where metals businesses can scale intelligently, supported by shared infrastructure, integrated logistics, and coordinated services that remove complexity from daily operations. Metal Park is designed around operational excellence, focusing on safety, efficiency, predictability, and sustainability. Processes are engineered to reduce manual handling, minimize idle time, and optimize energy use, while shared assets reduce duplication and waste, aligning operational performance with environmental responsibility.
Technology plays a crucial role, with Metal Park operating as a digitally orchestrated platform that provides real-time visibility, seamless ordering, and coordinated internal logistics for its members. By enabling advanced manufacturing, enhancing supply chain resilience, and attracting industrial investment through a scalable and efficient model, Metal Park directly supports the growth of the downstream metals sector and the broader non-oil economy.
With its pay-as-you-grow model now live, Metal Park signals to global metals businesses that industrial growth no longer needs to be capital-intensive, fragmented, or slow, and that the future of metals manufacturing is being built in KEZAD Abu Dhabi.