Aisha Steel Mills Limited has appointed Kashif Habib as chief executive officer, effective November 1, 2026, replacing Dr Munir Ahmed after more than 12 years.
The company disclosed the appointment in a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Tuesday. It asked the exchange to inform its members of the leadership change.
Habib takes over an Arif Habib Group company where he already served as a non-executive director. He also holds the chief executive position at Power Cement, bringing experience across the group’s industrial businesses.
Kashif Habib’s finance and industrial background
A chartered accountant and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan, Habib completed his articleship at A.F. Ferguson & Co.
His training included work with clients in financial services, manufacturing and other service industries. He subsequently held executive positions across the Arif Habib Group’s cement and fertiliser businesses.
Power Cement’s official profile credits him with more than a decade of experience as an executive director in those sectors. His corporate responsibilities also include board positions at Arif Habib Corporation and Fatima Fertilizer.
His appointment moves an existing Aisha Steel board member into the company’s top executive role. The announcement centres on the management transition and its effective date.
Dr Munir Ahmed leaves after lengthy service
Dr Ahmed joined Aisha Steel in October 2014 and led the company for more than 12 years.
A metallurgical engineer, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Dawood College of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, in 1978. He later completed a master’s degree in metallurgy in 1982 and a doctorate in 1985 at the University of Connecticut.
Before joining Aisha Steel, he spent 15 years at Peoples Steel Mills in progressively senior positions, eventually becoming managing director.
His responsibilities there included project development, operations and plant modernisation. He served as general manager for projects and balancing, modernisation and replacement, general manager operations, and director operations.
Dr Ahmed also held senior research and industrial project roles at Dr A.Q. Khan Research Laboratories. The company’s biography records his service as chief scientist from 2002 to 2009 and member for industrial projects from 2009 to 2014.
The government awarded him the Sitara-i-Imtiaz for his contributions to metallurgy. His professional record also includes research publications and a visiting scientist assignment at the University of Connecticut.
Aisha Steel’s manufacturing operations
Aisha Steel incorporated as a public limited company on May 30, 2005. It manufactures and sells cold-rolled coils and hot-dipped galvanised coils.
The company operates a cold-rolling complex and galvanisation plant in the downstream industrial estate of Pakistan Steel at Bin Qasim, Karachi.
These facilities form the manufacturing business that Habib will now lead. The company trades on the Pakistan Stock Exchange under the symbol ASL.
