Riyadh: Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Commerce and Industry has lifted the two-year-old ban on exports of cement products.
The ministry's decision allows manufacturers of various types of cement products, including cement blocks, hollow bricks and pipes, to resume exports under the conditions indicated by the ministry earlier.
"The conditions include keeping 10 per cent of the products as reserves in the regions where the factories are operating, and making available a bag of cement for a price of 10 Saudi riyals [Dh9.79] in the local market.
The companies must also furnish the ministry with periodic reports about the volume of products and market conditions," according to a ministry statement. Dr Khalid Al Sulaiman, undersecretary in the ministry for industrial affairs, recently said that the decision to resume exports was imminent.
Mohammad Sameen, director of a cement block factory in Dammam, confirmed that he had received the ministry's notification that the ban had been lifted.
Zamil Al Muqrin, director general of the Eastern Cement Company, said that the ministry's decision would help cement companies increase sales before the end of the year.
Almost all cement companies in the kingdom incurred huge losses under the export ban.
Owners of the companies on several occasions urged the authorities to lift the ban and save their industries.
They said that the export ban and a sharp fall in demand in the local market due to the global financial crisis resulted in huge financial losses and massive stockpiling of unsold products.
They also pointed out that the warehouses of most companies were still overflowing.