DAMMAM: An action team comprising representatives of various ministries and road contractors will study solutions to the current shortage of asphalt in the local market.
Officials of the National Society for Contractors (NSC), Saudi Aramco, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Customs Department participated in the meeting at the headquarters of Asharqia Chamber (the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry) in Dammam this week which decided to set up the action team.
The meeting demanded more transparency in the supplying process of asphalt to contractors.
“The Kingdom’s economy is growing at a rapid pace requiring a vast network of roads while the other parts of the world are passing through a phase of economic recession,” Abdullah Al-Ammar, president of NSC, said stressing the importance of the unhindered supply of asphalt in the local market.
“We hope that Saudi Aramco would supply the material in plenty and thus allay the contractors’ fear of daily losses because of delayed works,” Ammar said.
On the other hand, Yasser Al-Shenshir, head of asphalt units under Saudi Aramco, said the company was striving to supply the local demand in full. “The company has been trying to meet the local demand by increasing the daily production to 48,000 barrels per day from 25,000 barrels per day in the past.”
Shenshir said the Ras Tanura asphalt plant supplied 40 percent of the material while the Riyadh plant supplied 28 percent.
“While the daily sales rose from 33,000 barrels in 2003 to 57,000 barrels last year, 90 percent of the product is consumed by road contractors,” he said.
In its efforts to guarantee that the material is supplied to contractors in a manner commensurate to their work, the company sends inspectors to the work sites of contractors and checks their contract details, he said.
On the other hand Ahmad Al-Saadi, executive director of distribution at the Saudi Aramco, said, “the storage of the material has some difficulty and so it has to be disposed in various ways.”
However, he said the product reached a contractor directly and hoped that it did not disappear in the black market for illegal export.
On the other hand, Daifallah Al-Otaibi, representative of the Customs Department, shed light on the ploys resorted to by black marketers.
“They exported asphalt under the guise of diesel by mixing diesel in it,” the customs officials said. Diesel could be exported while asphalt has restrictions.
Muhammad Al-Imran, executive director of projects at the Ministry of Transport, stressed the importance of completing the road works on schedule for achieving greater economic development.
“Ninety percent of the delay in the completion of road projects are being attributed to the shortage of asphalt and therefore the Ministry of Transport is working in concert with contractors to remove the hurdles in getting it,” Al-Imran said.
