Officials said that a new cement company will be launched soon with headquarters northeast of Taif, Arab News reported. The United Cement Company, with an initial capital of $320,000, has signed a $230m contract with a Chinese engineering company, Sinoma Engineering, for the infrastructure construction and machinery installation of the cement plant with a capacity to manufacture 5,000 tons daily.

The company will also be able to provide employment for 500 workers. The director general of the United Cement said that according to the contract the Chinese engineering company will build power plants, residential facilities, roads inside the factory premises, administrative buildings and warehouses besides the mechanical installations. The company’’s official said that the new company is expected to ease the shortage of cement currently experienced in the Kingdom, which is passing through a construction boom and huge property development schemes. The present demands could not be met by  mere expansion of the capacity of the existing companies. The cement shortage over the past two years has also led to steep rise in the cement prices despite imports from foreign markets.  

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