The first 17,500-tonne cement shipment from Pakistan will arrive here in the first week of June as announced recently by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The shipment is aimed at meeting the increased demand for cement in the local market. Oman Cement Company, in coordination with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, will distribute the shipment among dealers across the Sultanate.

Sayyid Qahtan bin Yaroub Al Busaidi, chairman of Oman Cement Company, said the OCC and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry had agreed on a mechanism for distribution of cement. The consignment will be given to the approved distributors included in the previous list and to the new distributors as well. All the wilayats will have their share with the exception of Dhofar governorate and Al Wusta region.

Oman Cement Company would, in the next few days, release through the media, the list of all companies, agents and distributors entitled to the cement shipment, he added. Cement from Pakistan will be transported from the port within eight days and each distributor would be allotted two consignments of 2,000 bags each, he said. He said that there was no agreement with the government on increasing the price of cement imported from Pakistan. In case there is an increase, it would not exceed 300 baisas per bag.

The coordination between the various agents across the Sultanate and the factory would help check price rise and manipulation in cement price, he said, adding that agents would follow prices specified by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Speaking on the quality of the product, he said, Oman Cement Company has sent the specifications and required criteria to Pakistan and has maintained the approval on the criteria and specifications.