Oman Cement Company has announced that it had received government approval to export surplus cement after it increased its capacity.
Mr Jamal Shamis al Hooti CEO of Oman Cement Company said that the company will undertake a comprehensive study to determine the actual market needs at this time, the surplus quantities and will identify target markets.
Oman Cement Company produces currently 8,000 tonnes of clinker per day after the commissioning of the third furnace in the second half of this year, with a capacity of 4,000 tonnes per day.
Mr Al Hooti pointed out the presence of strong competition in the domestic market, especially for imported cement. North Sultanate consumes more than 8,000 tonnes per day, prompting the Oman Cement Company to seek the approval to export, stressing that the company is not producing any other kind of cement except the one used in wells of oil.
He said that the government as part of it's to support domestic product has already issued a circular to contractors to use the cement produced locally. But there is a lack of commitment by some, calling for the need to activate this resolution largely because of the unfair competition faced by the local cement especially that the imported cement is sold at less costs.
Recently, Oman Cement Company signed an agreement to acquire an OMR 16 million loan from a local bank. The company said that it will invest it in financing the process of upgrading the first furnace in the plant, improving the pollution control equipment and to pay other debts.
Mr Al Hooti said that the company will work to reduce emissions from the first furnace from 150 milligrams to 10 milligrams, which is below the prevailing global level and it will increase the production capacity to 2,700 tonnes per day from 2,000 tonnes at present.
He said that development work in this furnace will end during the fourth quarter next year if all goes according to plan.
Oman Cement plans to raise the production capacity to at least 10,000 tonnes per day.
Mr Al Hooti added that the process of development in Oman Cement Company included the establishment of stores and work is under way to establish more stores to store raw materials, which include limestone and raw aluminum. The CEO said that there are no plans to explore investment opportunities outside the country at the moment, but he said it would consider it in the future.
The government has given a license two years ago to the two cement companies in the country (Oman Cement and Raysut) to establish a joint cement factory in Duqm due to availability of raw materials there. due to lack of gas needed to run it, the Joint Committee slowed to conduct the necessary studies, and after the government announced providing gas in Duqm, Oman Cement Company will seek to carry out technical and economic studies to determine the feasibility of establishing a factory in Duqm as the study will include studies of the needs of the region of cement, the local market and exporting market.
The profit of the company, after deducting tax, has declined in the first nine months to OMR 9.7 million from OMR 16.1 million in the same period last year, mainly due to lower selling prices to meet competition.
(Sourced from www.omanobserver.om)
