Yanbu Cement Co. (YCC) has reached an agreement with KHD, a German company, to raise the additional capacity upgrade contracted in May of its new line by another 1,500 tons of clinker per day. This will raise the total additional production to 2,500 tons per day equivalent to one million tons of Portland Pozzolan Cement per annum. It is expected to be on stream by the end of the third quarter of 2005. The agreement follows its extensive technical and commercial discussions with KaneCem, a UK-based technical consultant, KHD, the supplier, and ACC India, the operator. They were meant to overcome the bottlenecks of raising the production capacity of the largest clinker production line in the Middle East from 7,000 tons to 9,500 tons per day and boost the company’s total clinker production to exceed 4.2 million tons per annum. The SR243.4 million contract with KHD also includes procurement, erection and commissioning of a new cement mill with a designed capacity of 1.4 million tons per annum. As a result, the total YCC grinding capacity will cross six million tons per annum before the end of 2005.
SBM/IBM
During a three-day road show that began in Jeddah and ended in Alkhobar, IBM in conjunction with Saudi Business Machines (SBM), the general marketing and services representative of IBM World Trade Corporation, unveiled the TotalStorage DS 6000 & DS 8000 mid-level storage solution that utilizes Power 5 Processor, which is claimed to be the most advanced processor available today in the market. With the introduction of the DS 6000, TotalStorage IBM is able to provide better value to customer enterprise technology at mid range market price. It also adds more choice to customers thus insuring superior performance that is due to the deployment of power (processor) technology. The launch of the TotalStorage DS 6000 & DS 8000 in the Saudi market aims to offer mid-enterprise technology at mid ranged market price.
Philips/Saks Fifth Avenue
Philips Electronics has added another masterpiece to its list of landmark lighting projects by partnering with Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City to help realize the luxury retailer’s dreams of a snowflake fantasy for the 2004 festive season. Saks and Philips recently unveiled their Snowflake Spectacle, a high-tech light show that combines holiday tradition and advanced technology. The snowflake theme was developed as a dramatic presentation requiring state-of-the-art lighting and technology systems, which led Saks to partner with Philips Electronics.