5: Saudi Cement Company

Saudi Cement Company (SCC) is a Dammam-based joint stock company engaged in the manufacture of cement and cement products, as well as investing in cement related sectors.

Its products feature ordinary Portland cement, sulphate-resistant cement and oil well cement, in addition to other types of cement distributed domestically. It has two cement plants located in the eastern province of the Kingdom: Hofuf plant and Ain Dar plant.

Its export market includes the Gulf countries - including Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar - as well as the United States and other countries in Europe and Africa. The company owns and operates an export terminal at King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam.

Even against a government ban on the export of cement, its net profit announced for the first quarter of 2010 was US $47 million (SR 176.6 million), an increase of 16%. Net income rose to SR176.6 million, or SR 1.73 a share, from SR152
million, or SR1.49 per share in the year-earlier period, according to Bloomberg.

It has a market capitalization of SR 7.5 billion, and since December – despite pressures on the cement industry following national export bans – the company’s stock has risen, from around SR55 to SR74.25 on 18th April.