Ups and downs in the Middle East

摘要

Due to gigantic construction projects in the Gulf States, the cement industry in the region enjoyed high two-digit growth rates until the financial crisis occurred. Thanks to good capacity utilization figures, a high cement price level and favourable production costs, regional cement producers achieved profits of over 50 %.The cheap money available for the financing of investments triggered a massive expansion of cement production capacities. The problem of surplus capacity was ignored for a long time, but now that growth has in some cases come to a standstill, overcapacities are imminent. What are the current prospects for the cement industry in the region and for the most important countries of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iran and Pakistan? This report provides a number of answers to these questions.