Displaying items by tag: UAE
Poor results on the Arabian Peninsula
19 February 2013Saudi 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.
New Oman plant could bring end to dumping
14 November 2012Oman: 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.
Dubai Group looking to exit Lafarge Emirates Cement
19 September 2012UAE: Dubai Group plans to sell its 45% stake in a joint venture firm with French cement maker Lafarge to help to repay its debt, which currently stands at US$10bn. Lafarge Emirates Cement is restructuring and needs additional capital to help support the business.
Lafarge Emirates Cement was set up as a joint venture between Lafarge, the largest cement company in the world, Dubai Group, part of conglomerate Dubai Holding, and the Fujairah Emirate in 2005. The company runs a plant in Fujairah with a cement production capacity of 3.2Mt/yr.
Loesche Round Table 2012 to take place on 15-17 October in Dubai
14 September 2012Germany: Loesche GmbH will be hosting its second 'Round Table' event in 2012 for customers from the Middle East on 15–17 October 2012 in Dubai.
More than 50 participants from the cement and other industries are expected to attend. Loesche Middle East FZE in Dubai, a subsidiary of Loesche GmbH in Duesseldorf, is a partner in planning and organising the event.
The conference will cover a range of industry topics, including a report on the development of the Arabic cement industry and a success story on a Loesche Mill in North Africa. Representatives from A TEC have been invited to present papers on pyroprocessing technology. In April 2012, Loesche entered into a close cooperation agreement with pyroprocess specialist A TEC Holding GmbH, Austria. Delegates will also receive news on the latest technical developments from Loesche.
On the second day of the conference delegates will be able to visit a Cemex cement plant in Jebel Ali, Dubai. The plant is running a LOESCHE Mill Type LM 56.3+3 C operating as a standalone solution.
UAE cement company results
24 August 2012UAE: A series of results has been released by cement producers in the United Arab Emirates. Sharjah Cement has announced a US$3.5m net profit for the first half of 2012, an improvement from a US$0.6m loss in the first six months of 2011. Its revenue was up by 14.5% to US$87.5m from US$76.4m.
Meanwhile, Union Cement posted a profit of US$5.6m, which, like Sharjah, was an improvement from a loss. It lost US$4.1m in the first half of 2011. Union's sales revenue was down marginally year-on-year to US$88.3m, a drop of 0.2%.
Gulf Cement also made an improvement year-on-year, increasing its revenue by 14.9% from US$35.4m to US$40.7m. However, the company went from a profit of US$3.64m to a US$0.78m loss.
Middle Eastern cement industry improves in 2012
08 August 2012Middle East: Cement companies in the Middle East witnessed a 24.3% increase in revenues in the first quarter of 2012 to US$1.26bn as construction picked up in certain parts of the region.
The industry's profits rose to US$435.6m in the second quarter of the 2012 financial year, compared to US$359.5m in 2011, a growth of 21.2%. However, according to Global Investment House's report, net margins suffered a fall during the period.
UAE and Oman reported higher revenues due to the better operating environments in both countries. The sales revenue of UAE firms increased by 7.7% to US$258.1m, bringing gross margin back to double digits at 10.5%.
Rizwan Sajan, chairman of Danube Building Materials, said that the UAE construction industry had started to pick up. "The second quarter of this year was much better than the first quarter on positive signs in the UAE," Sajan said. Omani companies witnessed a 16.7% increase in revenue to US$100.3m.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia achieved strong growth of 34.7% in revenue during the quarter, outperforming the UAE, Qatar and Oman. Saudi Arabia is witnessing a significant rise in demand because of its development plan. In March 2011 King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz ordered the construction of 500,000 housing units, as well as the building and expansion of hospitals. He also ordered the injection of capital into specialised credit institutions to facilitate debt write-offs and increase mortgage lending.
It is expected that Saudi Arabia's cement demand will strengthen in 2013, with US$24bn of transport projects under way or in the pipeline. The Haramain High Speed Railway has taken centre stage, with the final contract for the project, worth US$1.4bn, awarded in July 2011. Attention should now turn to the US$7bn Saudi Landbridge project, an east-west rail line that will link Jeddah and Dammam.
UAE cement bag plant starts production
25 April 2012UAE: The Kuwait-based paper manufacturer Shuaiba Industrial Company has announced the completion of its 100%-owned cement bag plant in Jebel Ali in the UAE. The facility, which has a total cost of US$13.1m will have an annual production capacity of 80 million cement bags. The company used its own funds to finance the plant.
GCC cement sector revenue jumps 14.2%
27 March 2012Kuwait: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) cement companies have emerged from two years of decline following the credit crisis with a strong 14.2% increase in revenue, according to a report by Global Investment House. Sector profits, however, increased by 2.7% in 2011. Revenues reached US$4.6bn in 2011 compared to US$4bn in 2010. Net profits increased from US$1.44bn in 2010 to US$1.48bn in 2011.
By country, Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait overturned declining revenues in 2010 and all four countries reported increasing sales for 2011 except Qatar. UAE, which witnessed declining sales revenue since 2008, enjoyed a 5.9% increase in sales to reach US$940m. Yet net profit was negative for the first time since the researchers started to compile UAE cement data.
Oman witnessed a 12.8% increase in sales revenue reaching US$342.3m in 2011, the second highest revenue in Oman's cement history. However Oman reported a 39.4% decrease in profits in 2011. Kuwait reported a 5.4% increase in revenue reaching US$66.9m in 2011, but it posted a 47.1% decrease in net profits compared to 2010. Qatar was the only GCC country reporting declining sales and profits. Saudi Arabia posted a healthy 22.6% increase in sales revenue and a 25.2% increase in net profits in 2011.
According to Saudi government officials, Saudi Arabia will spend an estimated US$400bn on large infrastructure projects from 2012 until 2017. Ever since the country banked upon diversification, the cement sector witnessed a tremendous pick up in demand from less than 20Mt in 2005 to 49Mt in 2011. In the wake of increasing demand locally, the government imposed a conditional ban on cement exports in 2010 that further pushed demand. Saudi Arabia lifted a ban on cement imports in March 2012 and neighbouring exporter nations, Oman and the UAE, are expected to benefit greatly from the change.
Lafarge Emirates inaugurates new distribution centre
20 June 2011UAE: On 13 June 2011 Lafarge Emirates Cement inaugurated its first distribution centre in the region, in cooperation with Al Saeed AL Zaabi General Trading. The new centre in the Mussaffah Industrial Area in Abu Dhabi was inaugurated by Antoine Duclaux, CEO of Lafarge Emirates Cement in the presence of many of the company's strategic partners.
Duclaux said that the new 350m2 showroom in Mussaffah Industrial Area was a big achievement and that Lafarge Emirates was contributing to the growth of the construction growth market by offering its quality products in the UAE.
Adham El-Sharkawy, Commercial Director at Lafarge Emirates Cement said that the facility would present a new 'shopping experience' to cement end users by offering a full range of high quality products and various other building materials products under one roof in a highly modern showroom.