The Yemeni state establishment for industry and marketing of cement is in the process of implementing investment projects to expand production lines in the government factories of cement for the purpose of meeting the escalating local demand at a rate of 5.6 per cent compared to the last year situation.
The developing projects include the expansion of production of Amran cement factory by building a new production line with a capacity amounting to 1Mt. It is expected that the expansion project would be finished at the end of this year and funded by the factory¹s budget.
The development plan also includes the expansion of the production capacity of Bajil cement factory by 600,000tpa with contribution of Chinese and Egyptian companies. After the new expansion the factory¹s production capacity would increase from 200,000 to 800,000tpa.
The state establishment for cement industry and marketing is also preparing a study for developing the production capacity of the al-Barah cement factory in the governorate of Taiz. Geological studies on the area indicate that there is a possibility for increasing the factory¹s production by large quantities. In addition there is a plan for accomplishing the Batees cement factory in the governorate of Abyan with a production capacity of around 500,000tpa.
The Batees cement factory production would cover demands of the governorates of Shabwa, Aden, Lahj and Abyan, and there are studies confirming the possibility of raising this factory¹s production. There is also a new investment project in the cement industry in the city of Mukalla aimed at covering the eastern region¹s needs I the governorates of
Hadramout, Mahra, areas of Shabwa and the governorate of Abyan. The new factory¹s annual production capacity amounts to around 1Mta
Implementation of the plan is aimed at covering and making up for the deficit occurring in consuming cement along with the existence of strategic investment projects under construction. The plan also aims at lowering the volume of cement imports from abroad.
The three government factories; Amran, Bajil and Barah, had last year produced 1,541,352t, at an increase amounted to 271,352t compared to the total production of 2002. But demand for cement has in this year doubled by 25 per cent - (local news reports).
