Cement Sinai seals agreement on new plant

Egyptian Sinai Cement Company sealed an agreement with a Czech firm for setting up a new cement plant with investment costs estimated at E£1.6 billion to produce nearly 1.9 million tonnes a year. Abdul Hamid al-Salmy, chairman of North Sinai Cement Company, said the plant would be constructed in 27 months and would create more than 700 jobs. "The plant will also be built on one million square metres," he added.

Dubai gold exchange trades 1m contracts

The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) announced that in the year to date volume has for the first time passed a record one million contracts, up 52 per cent on last year. Higher trading activity was led by currencies, precious metals and crude oil. Valued at US$52 billion, (Dh190.84 billion) YTD volumes at 1.02 million demonstrate increasing investor preference for DGCX. The milestone was supported by the recent record performance in the third quarter with 385,000 contracts traded, valued at US$20.5 billion.

Deals signed for cooling plant at BFH

Tabreed Bahrain, the district cooling technology company, has signed an agreement with SNC Lavalin Gulf Contractors, a leading engineering firm, to construct a district cooling plant at Bahrain Financial Harbour (BFH). It has also signed a deal with Sumitomo Corporation, in collaboration with Japan AE Power Systems Corporation, one of Japan's largest technology firms, to supply BFH with two new 66kV city substations. As part of its growth strategy, Tabreed is planning to increase its capital to finance its rapid expansion in the kingdom.

Egypt buys 40,000 tonnes Brazilian sugar from Bunge

Egypt's state-owned Sugar and Integrated Industries Company said it had bought 40,000 metric tonnes of Brazilian sugar in a tender. It bought the sugar from Bunge Ltd. for US$272 per tonne for shipment during the second half or November or in December, Ramadan Suleiman, an official at the company said. Egypt purchased the sugar on a cost, insurance and freight basis.

Sohar seeks bids for US$200m jetty

Sohar Industrial Port Company (SIPC) will shortly be seeking bids for the construction of a US$200 million deepwater jetty at the industrial port in Oman. The project will involve the design, construction and maintenance of a 1.2 km-long deepwater jetty for the import and export of bulk materials, says SIPC construction manager Richard Stam. It includes dredging of the existing approach channel and a new harbour basin to a depth of 23 metre intended for very large ore carriers up to 400,000 DWT. Tender documents for the project are currently under preparation, he adds.

Saudi Maaden, Rio Tinto aluminium venture delayed

A US$10.6 billion aluminium joint venture between Rio Tinto and Saudi Arabian Mining Co (Maaden) to be built in the kingdom will be delayed by the global financial crisis, a Maaden executive said. ""The aluminium project will probably be a little later because of the financial situation around the world,"" Maaden Chief Executive Abdullah Dabbagh told an industry conference in Dubai. ""We were hoping it would be 2012-2013,"" he said. He declined to give a new timeframe when asked later. Maaden said in July the venture was still viable despite a 40 per cent increase in costs due to greater capacity and inflation.