The recent commissioning of a 3,000 tonnes per day cement mill will enable Oman Cement Company (OCC) meet supply orders at a time when Oman and the remainder of the Gulf region have initiated unprecedented infrastructure development.

The company also plans another expansion. The new project will produce 4,000 tonnes per day of clinker and the company is negotiating with parties that could be involved with the expansion which is expected to be completed during the last quarter of 2009.
The company has received assurances from the government that it will supply gas in the required quantities, said chairman of the company Qahtan bin Yarub Al Busaidy.
“The demand for cement both in Oman and neighbouring countries continues to remain at a very high level. This situation is expected to continue. In order to meet the increased demand, the company is continuing to procure clinker,” Al Busaidy said.
The company makes sulphate resistant cement, moderate sulphate resistant cement, ordinary portland cement, and oilwell cement.
Clinker production during the first six months of this year was 542,496 tonnes against 647,450 tonnes in the corresponding period of 2006. It represented 90.40 per cent capacity utilisation for the period. Clinker production was lower due to major maintenance work to one of the kilns and also due to the effect of cyclone Gonu.
The company procured 363,917 tonnes of clinker during the period to meet the demand.
Cement production during the first half of this year was 973,881 tonnes against 838,061 tonnes in the corresponding period of 2006, denoting an increase of 16.2 per cent.
OCC achieved sales of 990,181 tonnes of cement during the first six months of 2007 against 917,459 tonnes, an increase of 7.9 per cent. In terms of value, sales were RO25.9 million against RO23.7 million, up 9.5 per cent.
Al Busaidy noted that the higher level was realised despite the cyclone which disrupted production and sales for almost 10 days.
Profit before tax for the six months ended June 30, 2007 was RO10.2 million compared with RO11.0 million for first-half 2006. The decrease was mainly due to lower clinker production resulting in the use of more imported clinker. Profit after tax was RO9.05 million against RO9.7 million.
During 2006, the company achieved sales of 1.9 million tonnes of cement against 1.8 million tonnes during the previous year. In value terms, sales for 2006 were RO 49.4 million compared with RO43.9 million during 2005.
The net profit for 2006 was around RO20.7 million, up from RO18.1 million.
OCS said the main reason for the increase in value of sales was improvements in the average selling price of cement by 7.19 per cent, the increase in the quantity of oilwell cement and increase in the sales volume.
The current demand for cement in Oman is estimated at 2.46 million tonnes per annum. OCS sales in 2006 comprised 1.8 million tonnes for the domestic market and 100,048 tonnes for exports.
“Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the company is confident of continuing to meet the high local demand in North Oman,” said a company spokesman. He said new markets for oilwell cement classes A and G had been developed by the quality control department in cooperation with the marketing staff. Oilwell cement exports go to the GCC states, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Pakistan, India and Turkmenistan.
Originally, OCC was 100 per cent owned by the Omani government. In 1993, the government (ministries) reduced their share holding to 63 per cent and the balance was acquired by the public. In 2003, it further divested 12 per cent of its holding to the public, bringing the government’s shareholding to 51 per cent. The shareholding pattern of the company as at the end of last year was: Ministry of Commerce & Industry 30.426 per cent;  Ministry of Finance 20.574 per cent; Public Authority of Social Insurance 5.683 per cent; Pension Funds and other Funds 16.931 per cent and individuals/corporates and others 26.386 per cent.
All the raw material required for clinker production except for small quantities of bauxite is indigenous. Limestone deposits, quartz, phylites and ferrogenous quartzite and phylites are located adjacent to the plant site. Gypsum is obtained from the mines at Ghaba in Oman’s Wusta region.