A number of Saudi cement companies plan to cut production by 5-10 per cent this year to deal with reduction in demands, Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper has reported.

The decline is attributed to low local demands for cement and high competition with the existence of 15 companies, as well as increase in the production cost as result of the increase in the energy prices.

Saudi cement companies are predicted to sell around 60Mta in 2017, the paper claims.