Displaying items by tag: Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: Tabuk Cement has appointed Saeed Bin Saeed Obaid as its new chairman. He succeeds Khalid Bin Saleh Al-Shathry.

Saudi Arabia: Yamama Cement has temporarily shut down five of its production lines. The lines have a joint clinker production capacity of 5600t/day. The decision was made due to poor market conditions, low demand for cement and high inventory.

Saudi Arabia: Najran Cement’s net profit has fallen by 51.2% year-on-year to US$33m in 2016 from US$68.1m in 2015. Its revenue fell by 35% to US$1.89bn from US$2.9bn. It blamed the fall in earnings on lower sales volumes due to low cement demand. It said this was caused by a slowdown of construction activities, an increase in energy prices and finance expenses.

Saudi Arabia: Cement producers are planning to cut their production by 5 – 10% in 2017 due to a fall in demand. The decision follows declines in profits of around 17% by local companies in 2016, according to the Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper. The decrease in demand for cement has been blamed on competition, high production costs and high energy costs. Cement sales in the country started to decline in 2015 following the low international price of oil.

Saudi Arabia: Yamama Saudi Cement has ordered two sets of clinker conveying equipment from Aumund. The Saudi Arabian cement producer plans to start-up two clinker production lines in 2018 at a new site to the southwest of Riyadh. The two lines, with a combined capacity of 20,000t/day, are being built by ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions.

The scope of supply includes 29 chain bucket elevators and 18 belt bucket elevators, in heavy-duty and lighter designs, for these two lines. For raw meal, Aumund belt bucket elevators will be used. Filter dust will be conveyed by Aumund chain bucket elevators optimally designed for low capacity. Two Aumund double chain bucket elevators with a capacity of 2300t/hr have been ordered per line as recirculating bucket elevators in the cement mill. The supply package for the two lines also includes six Aumund pan conveyors as well as various flat gates, silo discharge gates, telescopic chutes and cleaning conveyors.

Saudi Arabia: Yamama Cement has signed two finance agreements to raise US$267m towards building a new cement plant. It has signed a deal to raise US$200m from the National Commercial Bank and US$67m from the Samba Financial Group. The deals are both for three years.

Saudi Arabia: New legislation requiring cement exporters to pay tariffs of up to US$35/t is expected to reduce profits. The new import tax is also expected to compound problems for exporters created by restrictions linked to the gradual lifting of a ban on exports, according to Mubasher financial website. Cement producers are expected to be encouraged to focus on domestic sales instead. Financial analyst Jasim Al-Joubran of Al-Jazirah Capital has forecast low profits for the industry in 2016 due to low government spending. However, he added that sales are expected to recover in the fourth quarter of 2016 followed by a recovery in 2018.

Bangladesh: The government owned Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi Group to build a new production line and a captive power plant at the Chhatak Cement plant. The project is a joint venture between the companies and it will be run as a public-private partnership, according to the Financial Express newspaper. The new cement line and power plant will have a production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr and 330MW respectively. Industries minister Amir Hossain Amu, BCIC secretary Hasnath Ahmed Chowdhury and managing director of Al Rajhi Company for Industry & Trade Yousif Al Rajhi signed the agreement in Bangladesh on 20 October 2016.

Saudi Arabia: Aumund Fördertechnik and Sweidan Industrial Services have opened new spare parts stock at their Riyadh warehouse. In addition a local Aumund supervisor will be present to support customers.

Saudi Arabia: Southern Province Cement has commenced trial operation at the second production line of its Bishah cement plant. The trial operation will continue until the plant reaches a contractual design capacity of 5000t/day of clinker. Once the trial is complete the plant's production capacity from its three lines will reach 33,000t/day of clinker. The company noted in a statement that there are neither expected costs nor financial impact for this trial operation. The date of full operation will be announced later.