UAE has third largest Arab cement sector

The UAE can pump as much as 31 million tonnes of cement every year to emerge as the third largest producer of the building material in the Arab region, official figures showed on Sunday.

Expansion at existing plants could boost that capacity to nearly 42 million tonnes per year to allow the UAE to maintain its position as the largest Arab cement producer after Saudi Arabia and Egypt, showed the figures by the Arab Industry Union, published in local newspapers.

The country’s present capacity accounts for nearly 17 per cent of the total Arab cement output capacity of around 180 million tonnes per year, the report showed.

But the UAE’s actual production is estimated at only about 17 million tonnes per year as only a tiny fraction of the output is exported and domestic demand has been smothered by the 2008 global fiscal distress.

Egypt is presently the largest Arab cement producer, with a capacity of more than 75 million tonnes, according to official Arab estimates.

Saudi Arabia pumps close to 45 million tonnes but new projects will expand capacity to nearly 60 million tonnes in the next few years.

The report showed expansions and the construction of new plants would widen the combined Arab cement production capacity to 300 million tonnes.