Displaying items by tag: Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: Najran Cement has elected Fahd Abdullah Al Rajhi as the chair of its directors for a four-year period. Majed Ali Hussain Musallam was also elected as vice chair.

Saudi Arabia: The National Center for Waste Management (MWAN) completed a five-month trial with Riyadh Cement on the use of iron slag in ordinary Portland cement, according to the Saudi Press Agency. The study used 1274t of slag and showed that adding 1 - 2% improved the cement’s properties. MWAN said that the results confirm the feasibility of using industrial byproducts to cut waste and reduce CO₂ emissions.

Saudi Arabia: Qassim Cement has signed a US$298m contract with Sinoma International Engineering to build a fourth production line at its Buraydah plant. The new line will have a production capacity of 10,000t/day.

CEO and board member of Qassim Cement Omar Al-Omar said that the project will replace ‘outdated’, low-efficiency production equipment while optimising the plant’s existing infrastructure. Al-Omar added that the project will support the company’s sustainable growth strategy, aimed at meeting domestic demand and diversifying products in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.

Saudi Arabia: Cement sales by the country’s 17 producers rose by 21% year-on-year to 13.1Mt in the second quarter of 2025, according to Al Yamama Cement. Local demand grew by 23% and accounted for 97% of total despatches, while exports fell by 16% to account for 3% of sales.

Al Yamama Cement led the market with 1.93Mt of local sales, followed by Saudi Cement with 1.36Mt, Qassim Cement with 1.14Mt and Yanbu Cement with 1.00Mt. Saudi Cement topped exports with 376,000t sold, ahead of Najran Cement with 50,000t and Eastern Province Cement at 5000t. Cement expert and CEO at consultancy firm A³&Co Amr Nader said “East Africa and Yemen have seen rising local production, such as capacity expansions in Kenya and the reactivation of plants in Ethiopia, alongside aggressive pricing from Turkiye and Iran.”

Clinker production grew by 13% year-on-year to 14.8Mt, with Saudi Cement producing 2.15Mt. Clinker inventories rose by 3% from 2024 to 134Mt by the end of June 2025, led by Southern Province Cement with 20.2Mt. Clinker exports increased by 39% year-on-year to 1.63Mt. Key markets included Bangladesh, Kenya, Benin, Ghana and Yemen.

Saudi Arabia: Southern Province Cement recorded net profits of US$11.2m in the first half of 2025, down by 59% year-on-year from US$27.7m. Revenues fell by 11% to US$111m from US$124m in the first half of 2024. In the second quarter of 2025, profits dropped by 50% year-on-year to US$4m, while revenues declined by 9% to US$52m. Quarter-on-quarter, profits fell by 44% from US$7.2m and revenues by 11% from US$59m.

Saudi Arabia: City Cement says that the Capital Market Authority (CMA) has declined to approve its proposed acquisition of Umm Al Qura Cement. The decision was reportedly due to a lack of certain regulatory requirements. In a market statement City Cement said that it was committed to full regulatory compliance and would consider its options regarding resubmitting the offer.

City Cement announced in late 2022 that it was preparing to buy Umm Al Qura Cement. It then started taking action towards the transaction in late 2024 onwards.

Saudi Arabia: Arabian Cement recorded a net profit of US$11.8m in the first half of 2025, a 46.9% year-on-year fall. The company’s revenues reached US$126m for the same period, a 16.9% rise. In the second quarter of 2025, Arabian Cement recorded a 20.1% lower net profit year-on-year at US$5.5m, despite a 32.9% increase in revenues to US$62.1m.

Saudi Arabia: Domestic cement despatches rose by 13% year-on-year to 3.84Mt in June 2025, falling by 18% month-on-month due to seasonality impact, according to a report by Al Jazira Capital. Clinker inventories grew by 1% month-on-month to 45Mt.

Exports reached 0.71Mt, up by 17% year-on-year. Clinker production rose by 9% year-on-year to 4.9Mt, led by Yamama Cement, which increased its output by 28% or 0.15Mt, and Riyadh Cement, up by 93% or 0.17Mt. In the first half of 2025, domestic despatches rose by 14% to 25.7Mt, compared to 22.6Mt in the first half of 2024.

Saudi Arabia: Al Jouf Cement has appointed Qais Hussein Balas as its managing director. Other recent personnel changes at the company include the resignation of the CEO, Abdulkarim bin Mohammed Al-Nuhair, with effect at the end of his contract, on 21 August 2025. In addition, Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Falih has been appointed as chair in place of Abdullah bin Oudah Al-Ghubain.

Qais Balas holds over 25 years of management experience. Previous roles include the CEO of the Al-Manaseer cement plant in Jordan, the chief financial officer of GMS Group and as a Senior Internal Auditor at Fastlink. He has also worked as the Director of Investments and Business Development at Hikma Group.

Saudi Arabia: Al Jouf Cement reported a net loss of US$7.39m in 2024, compared to a net profit of US$10.04m in 2023. Sales fell by 5% year-on-year to US$68.4m from US$71.8m in December 2023. In the nine months to 30 September 2024, net profit declined by 31% to US$8.17m.