Sinoma of China is set to start work on the SR2.2 billion ($578 million) expansion of Saudi Cement Company’s (SCC) Hofuf plant, believed to be one of the largest cement projects in the world.

Under the Hofuf expansion, two new production lines with an annual output capacity of 6.6 million tonnes will be added, increasing production by around 160 per cent. The project will involve the construction of two complete new lines, with 10,000 tonnes of clinker capacity each.
The new plant will help to relieve chronic cement shortages and price hikes experienced in the kingdom over the last year. With construction activity increasing in the kingdom and the high demand for cement both locally and regionally, SCC had to boost its production capacity and also exploit its good reputation for marketing its production of various types of cements, ordinary Portland cement (low alkali), sulphate resisting cement, and oil well cement, says a company spokesman. Cement and clinker are transported from both factories to the terminal by railway. SCC currently operates two factories, in Hofuf and Ain Dar about 35 km apart and 130 km from King Abdulaziz Seaport in Dammam.