Cement producer Yanbu Cement Company (YCC) posted a net profit of SR214.3 million ($57.1 million) for the first half of 2004, up by 15.5 per cent over the same period in 2003.

YCC’s revenue stood at SR396.2 million, up 8.9 per cent. The company’s total assets were SR1.91 billion, down 1.7 per cent, while shareholders’ equity increased 2.1 per cent to SR1.8 billion.
The company posted a net profit of SR378 million for 2003,  compared with SR303 million for 2002.
YCC, established in 1977 and having an authorised capital of SR1.05 billion, is one of eight cement companies operating in Saudi Arabia. 
Its total capacity is 3.3 million tonnes per year (tpy).
The company has signed an agreement with a consortium led by Germany’s KHD Humboldt Wedag to expand its grinding capacity by 1.4 million tpy through the addition of a new mill. Consortium members include Dywidag Saudi Arabia and Europe’s ABB.
Dywidag will carry out the civil construction portion, while ABB will be in charge of electrical and control work. The completion date for the project is 2005.
This is the second contract awarded by YCC to KHD, the first being in April to upgrade the clinker production line 4 to 8,500 tonnes per day from 7,000 tonnes.
YCC is also carrying out market and feasibility studies for adding a new plant with a production capacity of 7,000 to 10,000 tonnes per day.
The company started production in 1979 with two long-dry kilns of 1,500 tonnes per day of clinker each. In 1997, it increased capacity by 175 per cent by installing a modern plant that had a daily production capacity of 7,000 tonnes of clinker. With this expansion, YCC became the second largest company in Saudi Arabia with a rated capacity of 3.3 million tpy.