Arkan to close UAE factory

Building materials industrial conglomerate Arkan has announced its decision to permanently close its Emirates Cement Factory (ECF) in Al Ain, Gulf Digital News has reported. The announcement from Arkan's board comes following the successful consolidation of the company's cement business. 

Arkan had announced in December that owing to significant gas and electricity price increases from 1 January 2017, it would implement a series of measures such as the temporary closure of ECF to boost savings and mitigate the utility price hike. To cut costs, the company decided to temporarily consolidate the production and sales of cement in a single location, which will mostly be at its Al Ain Factory. Arkan said that this would save it AED45m over the course of this year.

In a statement last month, Arkan Chairman, Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri, said: "We are opening new markets at home and abroad, introducing more innovative products and offering engineering solutions, which allows us to become true partners to our clients, not just a supplier…At the same time, we have taken important and tough decisions to reorganise our operations and position the business for the future."