Oman Cement Company 51 per cent owned by the Sultanate government, yesterday reported a 26.1 per cent rise in net profit to RO9.752 million during the first half year period ended June 2006 as against RO7.733 million recorded in the same period last year. The company attributed increased sales realisation as the main reason for the higher profit. Cement prices have been staying firm during the first half period ended June 2006 on account of strong demand in Oman and the neighbouring UAE.

"The improvement in the average selling price by 8.1 per cent in comparison with the average selling price during the corresponding period of 2005 has contributed mainly to the increased sales revenue," the company said in its earnings release. Investment income also contributed to the improvement of the bottomline, the release said.

The company achieved a sale of 917,459t of cement during the first six months as against 925,078t during the corresponding period last year, registering a slight decrease of 0.8 per cent. The cement produced during the first six months of 2006 was 338,061t as against 803,731t produced in the same period 2005. In addition, the company bought an additional 72,827t of cement and 241,780t of clinker during 1H 2006.

Oman Cement expects demand for cement, both in Oman and the UAE, to continue remain at a higher level. In order to meet the increased demand the company is procuring cement from the open market to meet customers’ requirements. Oman Cement is also upgrading its kiln No 1 and 2 by increasing its capacity to 6000tpd from the present 4200tpd which will increase production ofclinker to 1.9Mta. The company hopes to complete this project by the end of 2007.

The company’s new cement mill which is under construction will be ready for commercial production by September 2006 with a production capacity of 1Mta of cement. With this increase, the total grinding capacity will increase to 2.5Mta of cement.