Oman- Exports boost Raysut Cement net profit by 54% in H1 

Net profit rose to RO13.7mn in the first half as compared to RO8.9mn last year, according to a company filing with the Muscat Securities Market (MSM).

Raysut Group total revenue grew 17 per cent to RO49.5mn in the first half as against RO43.5mn in the corresponding period of last year.

In his director's report, Sheikh Ahmed bin Alawi al Ibrahim, chairman of Raysut Cement, said that keeping pace with growth in the construction segment, cement prices are slowly moving up and demand is on the rise in the region. He said, ''But supplies in Oman are still under significant pressure on inflows from UAE, making the domestic scenario highly competitive.''However, the rise in demand from Yemen and East African markets has had a favourable impact on the company. The company has done very well with higher revenue and profit during the period by pursuing with its non-traditional markets beyond its traditional base.''Raysut boosted cement production substantially by 25.2 per cent in the first half in order to meet the additional demand in both domestic and export markets. The sale of clinker had to be restrained to boost the sale of cement, the company said.Raysut as a whole sold over 2mn metric tonnes (MT) of cement and 60,121MT of clinker during the half year.