Raysut Cement’s Duqm terminal comes on stream

Raysut Cement, the nation’s largest cement producer, has brought into operation a new cement distribution terminal at the Port of Duqm — a multimillion rial investment that assures an important foothold in one of Oman’s most promising domestic markets.

The facility allows for cement to be shipped in bulk from the company’s plant in Raysut in Dhofar Governorate and stored in siloes at the Port of Duqm for distribution across the adjoining Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

Demand for cement to grow exponentially as several major industrial, petrochemical, tourism, hospitality and housing projects are executed across the sprawling SEZ in the coming years. Importantly, the facility will also go a long way in ending the practice of cement being transported by truck all the way from Muscat and Salalah to Duqm.

Significantly, the Duqm cement terminal is one of several investments under way across Raysut Cement’s expanding local and international footprint. The Salalah-registered firm, along with its counterpart in Muscat — Oman Cement Company — are also jointly pursuing the establishment of a new full-fledged cement plant in Duqm. Al Wusta Cement Company LLC, as the new company will be called, will be constructed upon the completion of detailed feasibility studies.

Furthermore, the commissioning of an upgraded Gas Supply Station at Raysut Cement’s flagship plant in Salalah has helped bolster cement output, according to Ahmed bin Yousuf bin Alawi al Ibrahim, Chairman of the Board of Directors. The upgrade has helped add around 130,000-140,000 metric tonnes to the plant’s cement output per annum.

Additionally, a new packing plant, currently under construction at the Salalah facility, is due to be commissioned in May this year, the Chairman said. Plans for the establishment of the parent company’s project with Barwaaqo Cement Company LLC in Somaliland are also in progress, he stated in the Directors’ Report of the company’s performance for the financial year ended December 31, 2016.

Raysut Cement Group achieved a post-tax profit of RO 20.71 million for the year, down 1.16 per cent from the previous year’s net earnings of RO 20.95 million.

The parent company however posted a 39.25 per cent decline in posttax profit, which dropped to RO 18.81 million in 2016, down from RO 31.23 million in 2015.