Saudi cement companies said that there’s no supply crunch on the local cement market and that existing plants are capable of meeting demand over the next ten years without the need for setting up new factories, Abha-based Al Watan daily reports Saturday.

The resumption of cement exportation is a strategic option for cement companies and the 10 Saudi riyals ($2.67) price of one bag of cement set as an export condition by the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Industry does not represent any problem for these companies so far, officials from local cement companies told the paper.

Cutting cement price to SAR10 a bag led to a significant construction boom in the kingdom’s northern region and in Al Jawf province, the daily reports citing Suleiman Al Harbi, chairman of Northern Region Cement Co. The local housing market’s demand for building materials is about SAR45 billion a year and a substantial part of this demand is for cement, Fahad Al Farawi, member of the contractors committee at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Al Watan, adding that the cement is available so far.
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