Yemen: It is being reported that large quantities of Saudi Arabian cement are being smuggled to Yemeni markets due to the decline of local supply and an increase in cement demand in Yemen. The head of the financial sector of the Public Cement Corporation, Abdul-Malik Al-Qirshi, told Yemeni press that the trucks that transfer Yemeni salt to the Saudi town of Jazan, return to Hodeida in Yemen carrying Saudi cement. Exports from Saudi Arabia have recently been blocked by the government there.

Al-Qirshi explained that Saudi cement increasingly flows to Yemeni markets due to the suspension of production at some Yemeni factories. He made it clear that the Saudi cement is largely purchased in Hodeida and on the Yemeni-Saudi border, going on to add that Saudi cement is sold at nearly twice the price that it is in Saudi Arabia.

"Despite the fact that Saudi cement is smuggled to the Yemeni markets, there is impure cement of unknown-origin that is packed in Saudi-made bags" he added. "This occurs due to weak control on the Yemeni market." With the exception of Amran and Al-Watania cement factories, all the other five cement factories in Yemen have halted production.