Displaying items by tag: UAE

UAE: According to UAE Interact, the UAE's Ministry of Environment and Water has conducted field inspections at cement plants to determine their compliancy with national standards. A team of specialists from the external audit sector conducted both scheduled and surprise visits to nearly 20 cement plants as part of their annual evaluation process for ensuring complete implementation of the legislation. Saif Al Shara, assistant undersecretary of the UAE Ministry of Environment and Water's external audit sector, said that the latest assessment results show that the plants adhere to 60% of category A national standards, up from their 39% compliancy in 2013. For category B, cement plants complied with 35% of standards, compared to 33% in 2013. Finally, for category C, compliance fell from 17% in 2013 to 5%.

UAE: Fujairah Cement Industries (FCI) has reported a 51% surge in its net profits for the first quarter of 2015 to US$2.2m compared to US$1.47m in the corresponding period of 2014. FCI previously posted a net profit of US$7.02m for the entirety of 2014 against a net loss of US$3.32m in 2013.

UAE: Umm Al-Qaiwain Cement Industries Co has reported a profit drop of 93.3% to US$417,000 in the first quarter of 2015, compared to US$6.2m in the same period of 2014. The company had previously reported a net profit of US$1.58m in its 2014 financial year, a plunge of 67.3% from US$6.67m in 2013.

UAE: Everest Industries' new US$16m plant is now expected to be operational by December 2015 or January 2016. The plant will produce cement boards and panel products and is Everest Industries' first overseas venture. The products will cater to the company's exports in West Asian and African nations.

"We are hopeful of making the overseas unit operational by December 2015 or January 2016. It will give us better access to the Middle Eastern and African markets," said Rahul Chopra senior vice president and head roofing business. According to Chopra, the Ras Al-Khaimah unit might bring down export costs. Currently, exports contribute around US$32m towards Everest Industries' turnover.

With three of its recent facilities coming on-stream in the last two years, Chopra said that Everest Industries is now planning to ramp up and consolidate domestic manufacturing across its various segments and improve its distribution network via the addition of a 'retail touch point' in all centres with a population of 5000 - 10,000.

UAE: After more than 14 years with HeidelbergCement, Kerim Tunçay has been offered the position of general manager at Union Cement Norcem (UCN). Union Cement Norcem (UCN) is a joint venture between Union Cement Company (UCC) of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE and Norcem of HeidelbergCement. It was set up in 1980 to market and sell the American Petroleum Institute (API) certified oil well cement, concentrating on export markets.

Tunçay, who took charge of his new assignment from 1 September 2014, will be in charge of all domestic and export sales of cement and clinker of UCC in addition to the sales of oil well cement.

Born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1972, Tunçay has a Masters Degree in Business Administration from University of Saarland, in Saarbrucken, Germany and a Marketing Diploma from University of California, Berkeley. Trained as an International Trader Candidate, Tunçay started his career with the cement industry in 2000 at HeidelbergCement Trading (HCT) in Istanbul.

UAE: Arkan Building Material Company has opened a US$354m cement plant outside Al Ain, with 4Mt/yr of clinker and 5.7Mt/yr of cement of production capacity. The company said that the cement plant will source its raw materials from its own queries in Al Ain and Oman. Arkan plans to sell 90% of its production on the domestic market and 10% will be exported to GCC countries.

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.