Cement News tagged under: Middle East

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Lafarge Cement fined US$778m for ISIS payments

19 October 2022, Published under Cement News

Lafarge Cement has agreed to plead guilty and pay a fine of US$777.8m for payments it made to terror organisation ISIS to keep operating a cement plant in Syria. The payments to ISIS, which reportedly totalled US$10.23m, were made from August 2013 to October 2014 and took place while the terrorist group was kidnapping and killing westerners, reports CNBC. According to the United States Department of Justice, "The gains to all participants in the conspiracy, including LCS [Lafarge Cement S...

Yamama Cement sees 49% jump in revenue in 3Q22

19 October 2022, Published under Cement News

Saudi Arabia's Yamama Cement has reported a 23.6 per cent advance in revenue to SAR684.2m (US$182.5m) in the first nine months of 2022. This compares to SAR553.5m in the same period a year ago, according to Argaam. Operating income over the same period advanced by 12.9 per cent from SAR178.02m to SAR200.95m, while net profit after Zakat and tax was up 29 per cent from SAR172.5m to SAR221.7m. The improvement in profit is being attributed to higher sales volumes and an increase in other r...

UAE climate change ministry signs AF deal with cement companies

14 October 2022, Published under Cement News

The UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and Emirates RDF have signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with four cement companies – Fujairah Cement Industries , JSW Cement , Lafarge Emirates Cement and Star Cement – that will enable the cement producers to use alternative fuel (AF)  generated from municipal solid waste (MSW) treated by Emirates RDF. A joint venture between Besix, Griffin Refineries and Tech Group Eco, Emirates RDF operates a plant in Umm Al Qaiwain, the fi...

WCA annual conference prompts MENA region to decarbonise

12 October 2022, Published under Cement News

The fifth World Cement Association (WCA) annual conference took place between the 25-28 September in Dubai, UAE, allowing industry leaders and stakeholders to have an open discussion and honest assessment of the biggest challenges that the cement industry faces. This year’s theme focussed on Navigating the Climate Challenge: Reducing Carbon and Reducing Costs but many concluded that the greatest limiting factor to decarbonising the cement industry is not technology but the sector’s dri...

Mill breakdown at Umm Al-Qura Cement

10 October 2022, Published under Cement News

Umm Al-Qura Cement reported a breakdown of its cement mill No 1 on 9 August, which led to a mill stoppage and a reduction in cement sold by 1161tpd, according to a bourse statement.  The Saudi Arabian manufacturer is currently repairing the component failure, which could take a year to complete, according to an expert report from the company. Consequently, Um Al-Qura Cement has increased the production capacity of its operational mill to partially cover the temporary shortage. The ce...

Iran’s cement market expands 17% in August

26 September 2022, Published under Cement News

Iranian cement demand increased 16.6 per cent to 4.98Mt in August 2022 from 4.27Mt in August 2021, according to the Iranian Cement Association. Domestic cement output picked up by 2.7 per cent YoY from 4.79Mt to 4.92Mt while clinker output increased 10.6 per cent YoY from 5.08Mt to 5.62Mt in August 2022. Iran exported 0.79Mt of clinker in August 2022, up 79.5 per cent from 0.44Mt in August 2021. When compared with the year-ago period cement exports slipped by 6.3 per cent from 0.32Mt to 0....

Oman Cement commissions WTE plant

26 September 2022, Published under Cement News

As part of efforts to reduce its reliance on natural gas, Oman Cement plans to commission a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant, using shredded scrap tyres. The plant is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2022. According to Oman Daily Observer, the plant is part of a fuel diversification strategy adopted by the cement company, which is 51 per cent owned by Oman Investment Authority (OIA), to enable access to a mix of alternative, sustainable energy sources. Two years ago, Oman Environmen...

Qassim Cement signs MoU for proposed acquisition of Hail Cement

26 September 2022, Published under Cement News

Qassim Cement Co (QCC) signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hail Cement Co (HCC) to commence discussions for QCC to acquire all issued shares of HCC. In a statement to Tadawul, QCC said both parties will proceed with the due diligence in relation to the proposed transaction. If the deal completes based on the exchange ratio, the total consideration to be paid by QCC to HCC’s shareholders will be approximately 18.92m newly-issued shares in QCC. Based on QCC’s ...

QNCC and Gord sign MoU on low-carbon products

21 September 2022, Published under Cement News

The Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC) and Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (Gord) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) pledging to improve efforts at promoting a more sustainable built environment, reports the Gulf Times. Under the agreement, the partners will collaborate on research, development and innovation (RDI) projects in the field of green/low-carbon building products. Apart from RDI activities, the organisations will also lead capacity building and kno...

August cement sales up 10% YoY in Saudi Arabia

13 September 2022, Published under Cement News

Cement sales in Saudi Arabia advanced by 10 per cent YoY in August 2022, according to a report by brokerage house Aljazira Capital. Sales last month reached 4.38Mt marking a 19.2 per cent improvement on the previous month.Cement exports grew by 34 per cent YoY in August to 788,000t, compared to 588,000t in August 2021. The highest sales increases were reported by Yamama Cement Co , which saw a YoY increase of 64 per cent, and Arabian Cement Co , which recorded a 29.5 per cent advance ov...