Three of the cement plants in the UAE emirate of Ras al-Khaimah have imported a shipment of a total 31,500 tonnes of cement in mid-August 2004, the emirate’s Customs and Ports Department director general, Mohammad al-Mehrizi, said.  The cement was imported by Gulf Cement Company, Ras al-Khaimah Cement Company and Union Cement and has been unloaded at Ras al-Khaimah Port, al-Mehrizi added. The importers have started receiving and transporting the cement to their storage facilities. However, some 300t of the shipment have been exposed to moisture during the unloading and have been spoilt, al-Mehrizi said. The cement has become incompatible with the international standards and the companies have rejected to take it, al-Mehrizi said. Al-Mehrizi denied that some 40,000 tonnes of cement had been left at the port after having been exposed to moisture.  Gulf Cement has ordered half of the recently imported cement.