DUBAI: Cement prices in Saudi Arabia will remain flat for 2008 and most of 2009 but are expected to fall by up to five percent a year until 2013 on much higher output, a Saudi investment firm said in a report yesterday. Annual cement production in the Kingdom is expected to rise to 69.9 million tons by 2013 from 23.5 million tons in 2005, helped by an upgrading of existing current production facilities and the establishment of new companies, Jadwa Investment said. Most of the new plants are expected to operate at or above design capacity, as plants are usually built with 10 to 15 percent excess capacity, the report said.

Korean firm wins Saudi Aramco order

SEOUL: South Korea’s GS Construction said yesterday its consortium had won a $501 million gas facility project order from Saudi Aramco. GS Construction said in a filing to the Korea Exchange that the consortium included itself and its building unit in Saudi Arabia.

Egypt Kuwait Holding profit up

CAIRO: Egypt Kuwait Holding net profit rose 22 percent in the first half of 2008 to $59.88 million, the stock exchange said yesterday. Shares in Egypt Kuwait Holding, the investment arm of the Kuwaiti Al-Kharafi group in Egypt, last traded 5.6 percent lower at $2.35 yesterday.

Morgan Stanley covers Qatar bank

QATAR: Morgan Stanley started coverage of Commercial Bank of Qatar with an “overweight” rating, saying the current share price represented a good entry point. Commercial Bank, Qatar’s third-largest bank by market value, has transformed itself into a pan-Gulf Cooperation Council bank alliance following its acquisition of stakes in National Bank of Oman and United Arab Bank, Morgan Stanley said. By ignoring the bank’s exposure to the GCC, the market is underestimating its potential profit growth, the investment bank said.

GM to invest $445m in Thailand plants

Bangkok: General Motors yesterday announced plans to invest $445 million to build a new diesel engine plant in Thailand and to upgrade its existing vehicle assembly plant. The diesel engine plant, GM’s first in Southeast Asia, is to be located in Rayong province, eastern Thailand, where the US automotive giant has been operating an assembly plant for the past eight years. The new plant, scheduled to begin production in 2010, will produce more than 100,000 2.5-liter and 2.8-liter turbo-diesel engines annually.