A new cement factory with an investment of Dh250 million will be set up in Al Ain to meet the growing demand for cement.
This private sector factory will initially have a production capacity of 2,000 tonnes per day, which will be doubled at a later stage, said V. Oommen Varghese, managing director of the planned Nael Cement Factory.
Owned by Nael and Bin Harmal Group, the factory will be located in the New Industrial City of Al Ain. The group has been operating a Dh200-million Nael Cement Products Factory for 18 months.
Nael Rashid Al Shamsi, chairman of the group, said the accelerated pace of construction in the country could lead to a shortfall in basic raw materials.
"The group has embarked on the new factory project to offset this shortfall," he said.
Varghese yesterday told Gulf News that the General Industrial Corporation and Al Ain Municipality have allotted a piece of land measuring about 30 hectares adjacent to the existing factory.
"We aim to be a national player, competing on regional and eventually international market," he said.
The factory will be completed in two phases. "We hope the state-of-the-art factory will come into production by December 2006 after the Dh120 million first phase," he added.
