A financing deal has been signed between Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC) and Saudi’s Samba Financial Group (Samba), for $100m.
With a two-year grace period, the financing will go towards the construction of the company’s fifth cement plant.
According to a statement by the cement maker to the Qatari bourse on 1 August, the finance should be repaid in three and half years and QNCC announced later that the funding was for partial finance for its Plant 5, anticipated to produce 5,000 tons per day (tpd) of clinker.
Earlier, in 2014, the QNCC signed the letter of intent with Fives FCB, France for the construction of the fifth production line, with the estimated cost being $260m (QAR950m).
With total clinker production capacity expected to reach 17,000 tpd and the grinding capacity touching 20,000 tpd of cement, the fifth production line was expected to become operational within the next 27 months.
The new project was expected to run parallel to the existing plants 2, 3 and 4.
Building a fifth production line is owing to an expected increase in demand for products for the massive infrastructure works presently underway in the run-up to Qatar hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
In June, QNCC closed cement plant 1 with effect from the start of the month.
With production starting in May 1969, cement plant 1 reached designed capacity of 300,000 MT clinker per year in 1976.
Currently, the capacity is estimated at 200,000 MT clinker per year and 140,000 MT cement per year.
Construction Week
3 August
