Bahrain-based Cemena Holding Company on Wednesday signed an agreement with Sinoma CBMI Construction Company Ltd. a subsidiary of Sinoma group to commence construction of a Cement plant in Syria.
The project will be financed through 70 per cent equity and 30 per cent debt will be owned 90 per cent by Cemena Holding and 10 per cent by the local investors from Syria.
The plant, which will be Cemena’s second after (Falcon) a cement plant in the Kingdom of Bahrain; the design production capacity of the plant is 6400 tons per day with two production lines, 3200 tone per day of each production line. The construction of phase one will start in January 2011 and it is expected that the initial production will start in 18 months.
The plant will be strategically located in Jabal Al Kahlah – half way between the Syrian Capital, Damascus and Syria’s second largest city of Homs, and only 150km from the Iraqi border.
“The plant will benefit from huge demand in the fast growing Syrian market and it will also supply neighboring countries such as Iraq where state infrastructure projects, and private sector development have created substantial demand for cement,” Cemena in a statement said.
“We are delighted to reach yet another significant milestone in building our business. By adding this asset to our portfolio we are building a track record and creating further value for our shareholders,” said Hisham Alrayes, Chairman of Cemena Holding Company, after the agreement signing ceremony.
“Following successful completion of our plant in Bahrain last year, we are now building one in Syria on one of the highest reserves of limestone in the country. Another announcement will be made soon for signing a further agreement to build a plant in North Africa which will enable us to cover the MENA region and tap into another highly growing market,” he added.
“Sinoma CBMI is one of the largest specialists in the construction of cement plants in China; the company has a proven track record and vast expertise in cement plant construction. It gives us great pleasure to be working with Sinoma CBMI and we look forward to a prosperous relationship going forward. I would like to also express my sincere gratitude to the Syrian government, the investment authority, the ministry of commerce and all the parties involved whom have supported this initiative and facilitated for it to take a step today,” he added.
“We are happy today to conclude the signing and mark this partnership with Cemena following 12 months of tendering and negotiation. Cemena is a highly professional company with a great potential for growth and we are pleased to be granted this opportunity of starting a relationship with the company. We look forward to further expanding the relationship through building plants in other locations which we are currently studying along their side,” said Tong Laigou, General Manager of Sinoma CBMI Construction Company Ltd.
“Cement consumption in Syria is increasing by 5.2% per annum due to the increasing number of real estate and infrastructure projects, and we aim to fill the gap in this growing market. We are extremely pleased to be establishing a plant in such a market as being one of the best in our portfolio covering Syria and Iraq,” added Salah Sahrif, Acting CEO of Cemena Holding Company.