JEDDAH, 29 April 2008 — Saudi Arabia’s cement concrete market is expanding rapidly in keeping with the booming construction sector.
There is an effort on the part of concrete manufacturers to increase investment and expand in a bid to meet the rising demand for the construction material.
Six new economic cities including King Abdullah Economic City are being planned and high-rise buildings have become the order of the day, particularly in the undeveloped areas of the Kingdom. Broadly, high-rise structures are between 12 and 45 stories or 35 to 150 meters high. Anything beyond that puts them in the category of skyscrapers.
The company’s figures indicate that 22 high-rise projects are currently in various planning and execution stages during the current year. Such structures were one or two per year as recently as in 2006.
High-rises are spreading across all regions of the Kingdom, whereas in the past they were restricted to a few cities such as Makkah, Madinah and Riyadh.
The construction and concrete markets across the Kingdom are becoming more diverse and seeing greater investment than ever before, Rami Khalid Alturki, president of Saudi Readymix Concrete Company, a subsidiary of Khalid Ali Alturki & Sons group of companies, told the media in his presentation at the Jeddah Hilton. The press conference was followed by a visit to a major Readymix plant north of Jeddah.
Some of its current projects include 20 to 30 towers and their number is expected to increase over the next few years.
It is in the context of the rapidly increasing demand for concrete that the company, a major producer and supplier of ready-mixed concrete and related products in the Kingdom, has announced an expansion plan. “We are going to invest SR440 million in 2008 as part of our expansion plan,” Alturki said.
“The investment is aimed at further cementing Saudi Readymix as the leader in providing the fastest and most effective concreting solutions in the Kingdom,” he added.
A large part of the investment is earmarked toward opening at least seven new stations in some strategic locations across the Kingdom, bringing the total number of stations by 2008-end to 34. The new stations will include 13 new concrete batching plants, raising their total to 70.
In addition, the company, which has plans to establish an R&D center, aims to fortify its fleet with an additional 100 state-of-the-art mixer trucks and 36 mobile concrete pumps, bringing the total fleet strength to 500 mixer trucks and 170 mobile pumps.
Alongside the expansion of its network and fleet, the company has set an annual target of 5.2 million cubic meters of concrete, up from the four million cubic meter target achieved in 2007, representing a 30 percent increase.
Also, he added, the company, established in 1978, plans to operate two new quarries and expand the existing three, and tripling its aggregate production capacity, its Technical Director Redwan Amin Hameed said.
The company has initiated its annual national recruitment drive aimed at raising awareness among talented Saudis of the employment opportunities available for them.
The company plans to add more than 800 new employees in 2008, raising the total workforce to 2,900 by the year-end, Fadi Mujahed, its marketing and business development director said.