JEDDAH: Yanbu Cement Company (YCC) signed a contract with Sinoma International Engineering Co. Ltd. of China for setting up a new cement plant at a ceremony at the YCC headquarters here yesterday. YCC Vice Chairman Sulaiman Al-Rajhi and Sinoma Vice President and Board Chairman Liu Zhijiang signed the contract.
The contract is for setting up a new cement plant for YCC on the Red Sea coast to produce three million ton clinker per annum. The contract is on a turnkey basis and the new plant is expected to be commissioned within 30 months.
“We welcome this contract and hope our new plant will be ready within the desired timeframe,” Al-Rajhi said. “We are optimistic, as we have a very good contract,” he added.
“We are embarking on the project with the cooperation of the Chinese company, having seen their work in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East and rest of the world. They have always achieved the targets. We are seeing China’s rapid growth and the country becoming an economic giant. We are also replacing some of the old kilns that have exceeded their lifetime. We will be ready for any potential expansion in the Kingdom,” YCC’s board member and CEO Saud Islam said.
“Sinoma is an international company and leading in setting up cement plants worldwide. They have 40 cement plants being built worldwide. In Nigeria alone, they are building 10 cement plants. They are doing two plants in Yemen. They are almost No. 1 in producing cement plants. Aside from quality, their prices are excellent. They are giving us both quality and price,” he added.
“Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah is very keen to develop such projects Kingdomwide going by the growing demand for cement in the wake of the construction boom,” A. Raouf Abuzinadah, executive board member and board director of YCC, said. “Demand for cement is fluctuating. Our production is about 14,000 to 15,000 tons per day, which can cover 50 percent requirement of Western Province. With the new plant becoming operational, we will be expanding our market share as well,” he said. “Export of cement is out of the question right now, but we cannot speak about the future.”
He added that the company decided in favor of Sinoma because of its excellent track record across the Kingdom and elsewhere. “We are hopeful that this project will succeed.”
As per the contract, Sinoma will offer technical assistance to the project, Zhijiang said. “We hope to expand the scope of our cooperation with the Kingdom in the future,” he added.
“This is a turnkey project as per the contract. Aside from supplying technical equipment we will be offering technical manpower as well,” he said.
He said had come with a strong delegation comprising Wu Shoufu, vice chairman of the board of Sinoma International, and project designers, engineers and technicians. “This indicates we attach great importance to this project,” he said, adding that the company, listed in the stock market, has contracted in all seven projects in the Kingdom.
Once commissioned, the total production capacity of YCC will exceed seven million ton clinker per annum, thus becoming the largest cement producer in western Saudi Arabia.
YCC, a Saudi joint stock company, is ranked one of the top 50 companies. Its cement plants with a capacity of 3.8 million ton clinker are located at Ras Baridi on the Red Sea shores, 70 km northwest of the Port of Yanbu Al-Bahr.
YCC is currently planning to expand its capacity by another 3 to 3.5 million-ton clinker. This will bring the total capacity of YCC to eight million ton cement per annum after the expansion, thus becoming one of the largest Saudi cement companies.
YCC, established in 1977, started its operations in 1979 when it commissioned two of its long dry process kilns of 1,500 tpd clinker each followed by the third long dry process kiln with a capacity of 1,000 tpd clinker in 1982, totaling the plant capacity to 1.2 million ton clinker per year.
