Raysut Cement Company, which calls itself Oman’s largest cement manufacturer, has signed land lease and Port of Terminal services agreements with Port of Duqm Company for the construction of its $30m (OMR11.5m) grinding unit, which the Muscat Securities Market-listed company has previously said will add one million tonnes to its current capacity, taking annual output to 7.4 million tonnes.
The Duqm plant is being set up as part of the company’s “aggressive expansion strategy”, which includes projects in Africa, Europe, and India.
Commenting on the programme, Raysut Cement’s chief executive officer, Joey Ghose, said: “The Duqm unit, which comes after our recent acquisition of Sohar Cements in Oman will help us consolidate and strengthen our presence in Oman and the neighboring Gulf markets.
“Our goal is to raise our capacity to 20 million tonnes by 2025 and eventually be a solid partner to infrastructure development and in turn nation building in the markets where we are present.”
Ghose signed the Duqm plant’s agreement with CEO of Port of Duqm Company, Reggy Vermeulen, and construction on the project has begun.
The current phase of Raysut Cement’s expansion plan is focused on Georgia and markets in Africa.
Following a $60m (OMR23.1m) acquisition of Sohar Cements in May 2019, Raysut Cement announced a joint venture with MSG Group in East Africa to set up a $40m (OMR15.4m) cement grinding unit in Berbera, Somaliland.
Ghose said the company was, so far in 2019, “looking at an investment of over $150m (OMR57.7m) in capacity expansion”, adding that its joint venture of Georgia was in “advanced stages”.
Phase 2 of Raysut Cement’s expansion plan includes $700m (OMR269.5m) investments in India by 2022, with the firm already considering to spend $200m (OMR77m) on acquiring two cement plants in the country.
Raysut Cement also signed a $51m (OMR19.6m) financing deal with Bank Nizwa to fund its operations and expansion plans in Oman’s Salalah and Sohar.
“We will continue to invest in markets where we find growth potential through acquisitions and by setting up greenfield projects,” Ghose said.
