The most diversified and integrated steel plant in Africa — Capacity 1.8 MTPA. ISO 9001:2015 certified.
Scroll and the concrete fades. What is left standing is the steel Tembo makes. Pick a product to find it in the frame.
An illustration of where each product goes, not a structural design. Bar sizes are drawn larger than life so they can be seen.
Tembo TMX® B500 CWR — the flagship, from virgin iron ore.
Drawn coil, annealed wire, straight wire, invariable wire, nails, wire mesh, BRC, umbrella nails, welding rod, ribbed wire and galvanised wire — 100% value-added in Uganda.
Hollow sections and square tubes through liquid steel.
Angles, flats, C channels and profiles from the section mills.
“We admire elephants in part because they demonstrate what we consider the finest human traits: empathy, self-awareness, and social intelligence.”— Graydon Carter
It is with great pleasure and a deep sense of accomplishment that I, the chairman and founder, share with you the remarkable journey of Tembo Steels (U) Ltd.
Our story began with a vision to create something truly extraordinary: a steel manufacturing powerhouse that would not only set new standards of excellence but also contribute to the economic development of Uganda and the African continent at large.
Our team’s dedication has led to numerous milestones, from being the first company in the world to produce low-carbon steel from Cast Iron for Africa. It is also the first company in the world to produce 0.7mm hot rolled sheets (HRC) from continuous configuration through direct rolling.
Both end in a steel bar. Only one of them starts from rock. Watch a tonne travel each route and see where the second one joins.
Swipe sideways to follow both routes.
Sit on the charge and travel the whole route in 3D: down the kiln, into the furnace, along the caster and through the mill. Then tap a furnace, open up the works and build a city out of one bar.
Two identical frames on one table. The left one is tied with ordinary bar, the right one with Tembo TMX® B500 CWR. Concrete cannot bend — steel can. Pick a magnitude and hold the table down: the ordinary bar snaps at the joints and the floors pancake, while a ductile bar stretches, eats the energy and walks the frame back to plumb.
Ultra-premium TMT rebar made with pure steel through virgin iron ore. Launched September 2023 and registered as a trademark, TMX is Uganda's homegrown flagship — 100% value addition in the country.
Pick any claim to test it yourself.
Everything else on the schedule has its own page, with each line running.
Drawn coil, annealed wire, straight wire, invariable wire, nails, wire mesh, BRC, umbrella nails, welding rod, ribbed wire and galvanised wire — 100% value-added in Uganda.
See the wire rod lineCoil, round tubes, square tubes and rectangle tubes through liquid steel.
See the strip lineAngles, flats, C channels and profiles from the section mill.
See the section mill
Thirty pages covering TMX rebars, wire rod and wire products, BRC and mesh, flat bars, angles and hollow sections, with the size and weight tables for each.
Two tests, one bar. First the press: B500 means no yield below 500 megapascals — hold the rig, watch the number climb past 500, let go and it springs straight back. Then the fold: bend it a full 180° around a mandrel and straighten it again. No cracks, either way.
The bar beside you made it — ore to steel. Tell us the project, and we'll spec the steel, the sizes and the delivery.
Plot No. 13 B, Mabua Road, Kololo (Opp. Interpol)
P.O. Box 26373, Kampala, Uganda
Plot No. 67, Block 24 Kigulu, Kasolo Subcounty
Bulamazi, Iganga, Uganda
| Heat / cast no. | TMX-260908-A |
| Grade | B500 CWR — UNBS permitted |
| Carbon (C) | 0.20 % |
| Manganese (Mn) | 0.82 % |
| Silicon (Si) | 0.21 % |
| Sulphur (S) | 0.028 % |
| Phosphorus (P) | 0.031 % |
| Carbon equivalent (CEV) | 0.39 |
| Yield strength Re | 545 MPa |
| Tensile strength Rm | 632 MPa |
| Rm/Re | 1.16 |
| Elongation A5 | 16.4 % |
| Bend / re-bend | PASS |
Every product from the works in one place. Pick one to see what it is used for and the sizes it comes in.
An illustration of the wire rod line, drawn live in the browser. Temperatures are typical for the process, not live plant readings.
Since 2014, Tembo has been the first in East Africa to complete the entire wire-products value chain through liquid steel — zero imported wire rod, 100% value addition. The 10-stand block mill, East Africa’s first, rolls rod down to 5.5 mm.
Mesh grades G8, G10, G12, A66, A98 and A142 in standard and custom sheet sizes — full mesh schedule available from the sales team.
| Wire dia (mm) | Roll weight |
|---|---|
| 1.8 | 25 kg |
| 2.0 | 25 kg |
| 3.0 | 25 kg |
| Size (in) | Length (cm) | Wire dia (mm) |
|---|---|---|
| 6.0 | 15.0 | 6.00 |
| 5.0 | 12.5 | 5.50 |
| 4.0 | 10.0 | 5.00 |
| 3.0 | 7.5 | 4.00 |
| 2.5 | 6.5 | 3.40 |
| 2.0 | 5.0 | 3.00 |
| 1.5 | 4.0 | 2.65 |
| 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.00 |
East Africa’s first hot-rolled strip was commissioned by Tembo in 2006, and today the HRC mill adds 150K TPA of hot-rolled coil to the portfolio.
Thickness, width and coil weight ranges are available from the sales team.
Round, square and rectangle tubes — Tembo completed the entire hollow-sections value chain through liquid steel in 2017, a first for Africa. Cold rolled and profiled products run at the Iganga works, with 200K TPA of capacity.
From strip to hollow section: formed round, welded along the seam, sized square. An illustration of the process.
Pick a profile and the passes re-cut. An illustration of pass-by-pass shaping; the real roll pass designs differ for every size.
First in Uganda to manufacture light sections through a structural mill from liquid steel (2004), now rolled on a fully continuous 18-stand horizontal-vertical section mill with direct rolling (2018). Standard length 5.8 m.
Complete size–thickness–weight tables for every profile are available from the sales team, alongside the mill’s 200K TPA structural capacity.
Plot No. 13 B, Mabua Road, Kololo (Opp. Interpol)
P.O. Box 26373, Kampala, Uganda
Plot No. 67, Block 24 Kigulu, Kasolo Subcounty
Bulamazi, Iganga, Uganda
Voted for by the public, judged by quality bodies and industry panels — from the first People’s Choice win in 2018 to Platinum in August 2026.
Eight years in a row, 2018 to 2025. Voted for by the public.
Exhibitions, forums and visits. Select any photo to see it full size.
From Tembo’s own photo library. Select any photo to see it full size.
Launches, awards and milestones, on Tembo’s YouTube channel.
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1:18What Uganda’s newsrooms have written about Tembo. Each story opens on the publisher’s site.
A full-page feature on Africa’s most diversified and integrated steel plant, covering all four verticals of steel: green steelmaking, the only company in Africa making HRC, structural steel, wire rod and TMT from iron ore, ultra-thin hot rolled sheet through direct rolling, and low-carbon steel from cast iron.
Umar Nsubuga interviews the chairman on arriving in Uganda in 2000, choosing Lugazi, and growing a steel maker built on local ore into the country’s largest integrated steel company, with around 3,000 people employed directly.
Tembo is named East Africa’s best manufacturer of steel and rolling products, with Gold for its TMX rebars, at the ceremony at Kampala’s Golf Course Hotel.
Tembo is among the companies honoured at the 2025 awards evening, recognised for its TMX bars.
A profile of the two-plant company that runs every phase of steelmaking in Uganda, from iron ore through to finished products.
A plant fabricated by Ugandan engineers. The President credits Tembo with reducing Africa’s reliance on imported steel and ties its output to Uganda’s railway plans.
The official account of the day: the President commends the chairman and praises locally integrated industry for keeping value inside the country.
Coverage of the regional quality awards hosted by UNBS, where Tembo shares the top honours and is noted for its quality excellence award as East Africa’s best steel and rolling manufacturer.
The exhibitor profile: virgin iron ore from Kabale, the region’s only 5.5 mm wire rod facility, and its pioneering use of cast iron as a steelmaking input.
Where Tembo has been lately.
Plot No. 13 B, Mabua Road, Kololo (Opp. Interpol)
P.O. Box 26373, Kampala, Uganda
Plot No. 67, Block 24 Kigulu, Kasolo Subcounty
Bulamazi, Iganga, Uganda
This page draws its scenes in 3D and this browser has 3D graphics switched off. Everything else on the site still works.
The furnace holds a full heat of liquid steel. Tilt it with your finger and tap the steel into the ladle. Pour too gently and it runs down the spout. Pour too hard and you overshoot. Fill the ladle, then send it to the caster.
This scene needs 3D graphics, which this browser has switched off.
An integrated steelworks on a table top, running. The kilns turn, the cranes travel and the trucks leave. Drag to turn the table. Pick a building to lift its roof and look inside.
This scene needs 3D graphics, which this browser has switched off.
This scene needs 3D graphics, which this browser has switched off.
Homes, bridges and stadiums all stand on the same thing. Tell us what you are building.
Plot No. 13 B, Mabua Road, Kololo (Opp. Interpol)
P.O. Box 26373, Kampala, Uganda
Plot No. 67, Block 24 Kigulu, Kasolo Subcounty
Bulamazi, Iganga, Uganda
Tembo makes steel from iron ore, start to finish, at two works in Uganda. That takes kiln operators and crane operators, chemists and electricians, engineers and accountants. If you want a trade that builds the country, start here.
Job offers come only from hr@tembosteels.co.ug. Tembo never asks for fees.
How to spot a fake offerSteel is made in a line, from ore to truck, and every stage has a team. Pick a stage to see the work and the kinds of roles in it.
These are the kinds of roles each team has. They are not a list of current vacancies.
Steelmaking is learned next to the people who do it. If you are a student, an artisan or a graduate, here is how to ask for a place.
For university and technical institute students who need a placement as part of their course.
For fitters, welders, electricians, machine operators and others building a trade.
For engineers, metallurgists, chemists and business graduates who are starting out.
Places depend on what each works can take at the time. HR replies from hr@tembosteels.co.ug only.
Fill this in and your email app opens with a message to HR, ready to send. Attach your CV before you send it.
Prefer to write it yourself? Email hr@tembosteels.co.ug.
Fraudsters sometimes use the names of well-known employers. Three checks keep you safe.
Real offers come only from hr@tembosteels.co.ug. An offer from any other address is not from Tembo.
Tembo never asks for fees. Not for forms, not for interviews, not for medical checks, uniforms or training.
Not sure about a message? Forward it to hr@tembosteels.co.ug before you pay anything or travel anywhere.
Plot No. 13 B, Mabua Road, Kololo (Opp. Interpol)
P.O. Box 26373, Kampala, Uganda
Plot No. 67, Block 24 Kigulu, Kasolo Subcounty
Bulamazi, Iganga, Uganda
A steelworks is more than its product. Here is what Tembo has put back, in the words of the people who recorded it.
Tembo received an Appreciation Award from Hon. Diana Mutasingwa N. Kagyenyi, Minister of State in the Office of the Vice President, for donating hospital beds and creating local jobs.
Tembo employs 3,000 people directly across its head office and its two works.
The second plant, at Iganga, was fabricated by Ugandan engineers. President Museveni commissioned it in January 2025.
At the Iganga commissioning the President praised locally integrated industry for keeping value inside the country, and credited Tembo with reducing Africa’s reliance on imported steel.
Tembo exhibits on the Buy Uganda Build Uganda platform and won the BUBU Expo Award in 2022. Its BUBU profile starts where the steel does, with virgin iron ore from Kabale.
Tembo was the main sponsor of India Day in Kampala in August 2024, hosted with the Indian Association of Uganda.
People’s Choice Quality Awards: eight years in a row, 2018 to 2025.
If you run a school, a health centre or a community group around Lugazi or Iganga, tell us what you are working on.
Plot No. 13 B, Mabua Road, Kololo (Opp. Interpol)
P.O. Box 26373, Kampala, Uganda
Plot No. 67, Block 24 Kigulu, Kasolo Subcounty
Bulamazi, Iganga, Uganda
