Displaying items by tag: UAE

UAE: Everest Industries, a leading Indian manufacturer of building solution products, plans to set up a fibre cement board plant in the UAE as part of its global expansion strategy. The new plant, which will produce about 72,000t/yr of fibre cement, will be set up through a wholly-owned subsidiary company of Everest Industries in Mauritius. Everest Industries has already won approval from its board of directors for the new UAE venture.

Oman: Raysut Cement has warned that the large volume of cement from the UAE to Oman is creating 'undue competition' in the local market. It has reacted to this by maintaining sales locally, increasing its profit and increasing its own exports in Yemen and Africa. The company made the announcement as part of its half-year results for 2014.

The group reported revenues of US$129m for the first half of 2014, no change in comparison to the same period in 2013. Profit before tax rose by 6.7% year-on-year to US$45m.

The group sold 1.3Mt of cement and 17,400t of clinker in the first half a 2014, a decrease of 3% year-on-year compared to total sales of cement and clinker. In the first half of 2013 the group sold 1.32Mt of cement and 27,900t of clinker. The group attributed the decline to 'severe' competition from UAE suppliers in the north of Oman. It compensated for this with increased sales in the south of the country and larger export volumes.

The Oman-based cement producer also announced new projects it is working on, including setting up a distribution terminal in Duqm, additional silo capacity at the Salalah plant and an off-shore wheel loader system to facilitate bulk cement handling.

UAE: During the first six months of 2014, Union Cement Company (UCC) achieved a net profit of US$16.2m compared to US$5.76m during the same period of 2013, a 181% year-on-year increase. UCC's second quarter 2014 results, which ended on 30 June 2014, showed a net profit of US$11.2m compared to US$4.22m during the same period of 2013.

UAE: Cement producers in United Arab Emirates (UAE) have defended their right to export to Oman amidst calls for curbs on imports. Raysut Cement, Oman's largest cement producer, has asked the Government of Oman to implement a ceiling on UAE imports, according to local media. However, UAE producers deny that they are flooding the Oman market.

"There's a shortage and we are covering that shortage," said Suliman Ali Abdullah Al Shehi, a sales manager at Gulf Cement. Raysut Cement has said that the market only needs 1Mt/yr of cement but that UAE producers are exporting 2.5Mt/yr. However UAE producer Fujairah Cement has estimated demand at nearly 3Mt/yr.

Raysut Cement has requested the government in Oman to cap UAE cement imports and to limit the load on each lorry crossing the border from the UAE. The UAE produces over 24Mt/yr according to the Ministry of Economy. Nearly 60% of the total cement production is exported to neighbouring countries in the region.

United Arab Emirates: Turkish cement producer Adana Cement has won an award for safety performance improvement at the 11th Annual DuPont Safety and Sustainability Awards, which took place in Dubai on 24 September 2013. Six award recipients were selected by an independent jury comprised of leading experts in occupational safety and sustainability.

Adana Cement was chosen for its efforts to create a safe work environment. In 2005 the company established an integrated OHSAS 18001-certified Safety Management System, before implementing further processes and improvements in 2008 after recognition that 96% of accidents were caused by dangerous behaviour, rather than conditions.

Together, these initiatives have had a profound effect in shaping a positive safety culture among employees. In particular, a multi-faceted approach, including behaviour-oriented site visits, accident information meetings, reward and sanction practices and a schedule of continuous training programmes, has resulted in a dramatic decrease in employee and sub-contractor accidents since 2008, based on statistics collected since 2003. A new record of 243 uninterrupted days without an accident was achieved in 2012, in a period when expanding production objectives were successfully met.

UAE: The Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Cement Company has launched a US$18m expansion of its second kiln at its cement plant in Khor Khwair in Ras Al Khaimah. Sheikh Ahmed bin Humaid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, chairman of the board of the RAK Cement Company launched the new expansion. Also in attendance was Yasser bin Ahmed bin Humaid Al Qasimi, director-general of the Union Cement Company, along with a number of senior officials.

Oman: The board of directors at Oman's Raysut Cement has announced that it will give the green light to the firm's plans for a series of expansion moves, both at home and abroad. As part of the plan, the country's largest cement manufacturer will establish modern state‐of‐the‐art Cement Terminal inside Oman's Duqm Port for storing, packing and distribution of cement. The facilities will include two silos, each with a capacity of 4000t. The port plan is expected to commence operation in the second half of 2014.

The Raysut board has also given approval for the establishment of a modern state‐of‐the‐art cement terminal at Berbera Port in Somalia. The construction, to be undertaken as a joint venture with local partners, will see storage, packing and distribution of cement from three 4000t silos.

Additionally, the board approved the establishment of a grinding plant in Mukulla, Yemen through its sister company Mukulla Raysut. Another joint venture with a local partner, the Yemen grinding plant will have a capacity of 0.5Mt/yr and will pack cement for the Yemeni market.

Finally, Raysut is planning to improve its Pioneer Cement Industries plant in the United Arab Emirates. The expansion will see the installation of an additional cement silo, a cooling system upgrade and the installation of environmental abatement systems.

"This development and expansion will have positive impact on the performance results and profitability of the company in the future," said Raysut in a statement.

Saudi Arabia: The Saudi Port Authority (SPA) has said that cement shipments have been arriving since King Abdullah decree for the country to import 10Mt was issued in April 2013. About 350,000t of cement have been shipped from the UAE and Egypt through various Saudi ports.

"Shipments have come through Dammam, Jeddah and Jazan ports, some through Yanbu and some others are scheduled to arrive through Jubail and Dammam ports," said Musaid Al-Darees, press spokesman for the SPA. Al-Darees added that incoming shipments from the UAE will help face the continuing cement crisis. Around 90% of cement comes from Al-Batha Port, which is witnessing a lot of incoming shipments from the UAE. Shipments from Egypt form only 10% of total imports coming through Jeddah Islamic Port.

Saudi Arabia: Hail Cement has announced a net loss of US$7.1m, the third consecutive year with a net loss, although it reduced its loss from US$10.9m in 2011. Hail reported a 29.5% drop in revenue to US$391,635 and negative operating cash-flow.

UAE: Ras Al Khaimah Cement made a net loss of US$2.0m during the whole of 2012 despite a 15.1% increase in its revenue to US$60.5m. 2012 was the third year in five that the company made a loss. In 2011 the company made a net loss of US$5.4m.

Oman: Plans to build a cement plant in Oman's northern city of Al Duqm are progressing, with the promoters starting to identify limestone mines in the area. The project, which will have a production capacity of 3-4Mt/yr, is aimed at enhancing the availability of cement in the country to meet additional demand arising from major government-supported infrastructure projects and other construction activities.

Sources said that the Duqm cement project will be promoted by a well established 100% Omani firm, which will carry out exports through Duqm port. "It is going to be a very big project. The cement plant will be set up in coordination with the port," said a source.

Presently, the two cement producers in the country, Raysut Cement and Oman Cement, have a combined capacity of 4.7Mt/yr. However, if the capacity of Raysut's Ras Al Khaimah, UAE-based Pioneer Cement Industries is included, the total installed capacity is much higher at 6.4Mt/yr. An important advantage for the proposed cement plant is the rich deposits of limestone in the region.

In a recent forecast Raysut predicted that the construction industry in Oman would grow to US$5bn by 2016 at an average rate of 6%/yr. It supported this assertion with the news that a number of formerly suspended programmes in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been reinstated. However, the group added that cement supplies in Oman remain under 'significant' pressure from imports from UAE. It is estimated that UAE has an overcapacity of cement of around 65%. Raysut also expects that demand in Yemen and east Africa will aid the company.