Cemex announced today that it intends to begin construction of a new grinding facility for cement and slag in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in order to help meet increased local demand. The construction of the grinding facility will increase commercial and production capacity in the region to 1.6Mt of cement. The estimated investment in the new facility is US$50m. Since January 2006, Cemex’s commercial cement operations have been supplying cement via the MV Corregidora silo ship to Cemex Ready Mix operations and other customers in the United Arab Emirates.

The new grinding facility will be built on almost 59,000 square meters of land and will include buildings for raw material storage, silos, and other structures for the storage and delivery of cement. The facilities will also house offices, workshops and a laboratory used for quality control purposes. The project will comply with strict global and local environmental requirements and is expected to be completed and fully operational by mid 2007.

Cemex started operating in United Arab Emirates in March 2005 after acquiring RMC Group, focusing on ready mix concrete production and ground slag supply to the construction industry. One of the most notable ongoing projects, where Cemex is working, is the US$4.1 billion Dubai International Airport expansion, one of the largest airport expansion developments in the World.