Displaying items by tag: Qatar
Qatar: Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC) has signed a financing deal with Saudi Arabia’s Samba Financial Group (Samba) for US$100m. The facility, which has a two-year grace period, will go towards financing the construction of the company’s fifth cement plant and should be repaid in three and half years.
QNCC signed a letter of intent with Fives FCB in 2014 to build the 5000t/day clinker production line at a cost of US$261m. The plant was expected to become operational within 27 months, according to local media. The company decided to build its fifth cement plant in response to an expected increase in demand in the run up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup being held in Qatar. In June 2016 QNCC also announced plans to close cement plant 1 with effect from the start of the month.
Qatar to get through 5.7Mt of cement in 2017
11 July 2016Qatar/Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia's decision to lift its cement export ban may help to meet Qatar's growing demand ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022. Official data suggests that the peak demand for cement from Qatar's thriving construction and infrastructure industries is expected to reach 5.7Mt in 2017. Due to its population of around 2.2 million, this represents an incredible 2600kg/capita.
The Saudi government previously imposed a ban on cement exports in 2008 to push prices down and accommodate demand from large government-funded infrastructure projects, although some companies were allowed to export at prices lower than those in the local market.
According to market analysts, strong infrastructure spending by the Qatar government on infrastructure development will continue to boost demand for the cement sector. Huge projects are in the pipeline, including the Doha Metro, World Cup stadiums, roads and flyovers and sanitary works.
Qatar National Cement Company profit increases by 10% in 2015
26 January 2016Qatar: Qatar National Cement Company has reported that its profit rose by 10% year-on-year to US$127m in 2015 compared to US$115m in 2014. Revenue increased by 11% to US$321m from US$288m. Gross profit increased by 6% to US$130m from US$123m.
Al Khalij Cement Company adds new cement line
02 December 2015Qatar: Al Khalij Cement Company has added a duplicate production line to take its total cement production capacity to 15,500t/day, which will help Qatar meet rising cement demand in view of the strategic infrastructure projects being undertaken ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
"We can say that we are now the largest producer of Ordinary Portland Cement in Qatar," said Al Khalij Cement Company's Managing Director Faisal bin Abdullah al-Mana. Highlighting that the estimated total cement demand in Qatar is 20,000 - 22,000t/day, al-Mana said that, with the addition of production capacity from Al Khalij, the country will be able to meet the growing demand domestically.
In 2013, Denmark's FLSmidth won a US$95.9m order for the supply of a complete cement production line for Al Khalij's plant in Umm Bab. The production line is identical to the existing line, which was supplied by FLSmidth in 2007. The strategy to have identical production lines, according to al-Mana, will make the maintenance and sourcing of spare parts easier.
Qatar National Cement profit slightly up
05 November 2015Qatar: Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC) has reported that its profit for the nine months ending on 30 September 2015 was US$98.6m, compared to US$91.2m in the same period of 2014. This represents a year-on-year rise of 8.1%. Revenue for the nine months to 30 September 2015 was US$233m, compared to US$212m for the nine months to 30 September 2014, a rise of 9% year-on-year.
The company's gross profit for the nine months to 30 September 2015 was US$96.2m, compared to US$93m for the same period of 2014. QNCC's other income for the nine months to 30 September 2015 was US$10.8m, compared to US$6.5m for the same period of 2014.
Alkhalij Cement Company to increase production by 50%
22 September 2015Qatar: In an effort to meet growing demand, Alkhalij Cement Company, part of Qatari Investors Group, intends to invest nearly US$220m on a new production line.
The country's construction market is putting strain on cement supply and Firas Tayssir Ibrahim, chief administration officer of Qatari Investors Group, said that the new line is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2016. The new line is expected to increase cement production by 50%.
Ibrahim's statement was underscored by Alkhalij Cement Company COO Jose Escalera, who emphasised the extraordinary growth in the country's construction sector. "The unprecedented growth in Qatar's construction remains the primary motive of all companies to place more efforts in improving their products and services to meet the terms of this growth and support it with emphasis on quality and effectiveness factors. This has prompted Alkhalij Cement Company to increase its production capacity to cope with the increasing market demands. While the production of clinker will reach around 2Mt/yr and cement around 3Mt/yr by the end of 2015, our projections show that in 2016 and when our new line is operational, we will need to produce close to 4Mt/yr of clinker and 4.5Mt/yr of cement," said Escalera.
Qatar National Cement’s 2015 first half profit up
31 July 2015Qatar: Qatar National Cement has reported that its profit for the first six months of 2015 rose to US$66.6m form US$65.3m in the same period of 2014, according to MarketLine. Its revenue for the first six months grew to US$160m from US$147m in the first six months of 2014. Its gross profit fell to US$63.3m from US$65.9m in 2014.
Qatar National Cement’s profit up in second quarter
16 July 2015Qatar: Qatar National Cement Company's net profit grew by 2% to US$66.6m for the financial quarter ending 30 June 2015, compared to US$65.3m in the same period of 2014, according to the Qatari news agency.
QPMC cement terminal to be operational in 2015
25 March 2015Qatar: The upcoming cement storage and conveying terminal being developed by Qatar Primary Materials Company (QPMC) in Mesaieed will be completed by the end of 2015, according to a senior official of a consultancy associated with the project.
The facility has been designed to discharge 1.8Mt/yr of cement into the 12 silos with a total storage capacity of 60,000m3. Once operational, the plant will be able to load 1000t/hr of cement in trucks, which will significantly reduce the truck loading time to about 90 seconds per truck.
"Once completed, the facility will help Qatar to import and store more cement than what it is able to do today. In case the local producers have a surplus output, in future, they can also use the storage facility, which will maintain the quality of cement intact for a longer period of time," said Marc Stordiau, managing director of 'Rent A Port', a Belgium-based engineering consultant specialising in port designing and logistics operations. "Although the temrinal has been designed for cement, it can also be used to store gypsum and clinker after minimal modification," added Stordiau.
According to Stordiau, the terminal will also improve the cost efficiency and handling capacity of the port significantly as the latest technology will help unload a vessel with 60,000m3 of cement within a day, instead of 10 - 15 days without the conveyor belts and silos facilities. The high rate of discharge capacity from ships will also reduce ship waiting times. The cement terminal is also equipped with smaller silos, which have been designed to load up to four trucks simultaneously, taking the total loading capacity to 40 trucks per hour or 20,000t/day.
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia's cement producers have again asked the government to lift a three-year-old ban on their exports so they can supply Egypt with 6Mt of cement, according to the chairman of Saudi Arabia's Cement Association.
"We are ready to export 6Mt of our cement surplus to Egypt following the signing of large contracts between that country and global companies this week," said Jihad Al-Rasheed, chairman of the national cement committee in the council of Saudi chambers of commerce and industry. Al-Rasheed said that it was time for Saudi authorities to lift the export ban after the emergence of 'golden' opportunities for the country's cement manufacturers to export their products to nearby Qatar, which needs large quantities of building materials for the planned stadia and other facilities for the FIFA 2022 World Cup. He added that other key markets that need Saudi cement include Kuwait, Bahrain, Sudan, Yemen and Ethiopia.
"Some Saudi cement plants were constructed in border areas with the aim of exporting their products to neighbouring countries, but the export ban has inflicted heavy losses on them and could force them to lay off workers," said Al-Rasheed. He added that cement companies in Saudi Arabia are trying to reduce a surplus of >20Mt by supplying domestic projects. "Most of the local government and private sector projects now have sufficient cement supplies. We want the Saudi government to lift the ban on cement exports in line with international trade rules," said Al-Rasheed.
Saudi Arabia partially lifted the cement export ban in 2009 before enforcing it again in 2012 to ensure enough supplies for domestic projects. According to Al-Rasheed, cement demand in Saudi Arabia stood at around 57.2Mt in 2014 and is projected to grow to nearly 59.5Mt in 2015.