Oman’s Raysut Cement to invest $200 m to set up facility in Georgia

Raysut Cement Company (RCC), Oman’s largest cement manufacturer, will invest $200 million to set up a 1.2-million tonne per annum (mtpa) integrated cement plant in Georgia, Eastern Europe.

Following the commissioning of this plant by the end of this financial year, the company’s total capacity is expected to rise to 8.6 mtpa.

The new plant will be set up by Raysut Cement’s subsidiary Pioneer Cement, and will come up near Tbilisi, where the company owns limestone mines. The work on the project is slated to commence from the fourth quarter of this year.

The debt and equity arrangements for the project are currently being finalised, RCC CEO Joey Ghose said.

“We have embarked on an aggressive and ambitious expansion strategy in the region and our expansion into Georgia, Africa and India will help us be close to growth markets,” he added.

At present, Pioneer operates an integrated cement plant with a 1.5 MTPA capacity, located 45 km north of Ras-al-Khaimah.

Plans for India

In December last year, RCC had announced plans to invest about $700 million (nearly ₹5,000 crore) in India by 2022, of which $200 million was earmarked to acquire majority stakes in two Indian cement producers.

The Georgia expansion will also support the group’s endeavour to diversify from West Asia into markets with large infrastructure growth and shortage of clinker and high-quality cement.

“The Georgia expansion opens up a diverse market for us in terms of growth potential as well as new challenges. We are confident that this move will further strengthen and compliment our aggressive expansion strategy in regional and global markets and grow into a development partner in economies across a wide geographical footprint,” BS Rajan, General Manager at Pioneer Cement, said.

The Georgia expansion also comes close on the heels of RCC’s announcement of signing a land lease and Port of Terminal services agreements with Port of Duqm Company SAOC for building a new grinding unit in Oman with a $30 million investment.

At present, Oman-headquartered RCC has a total capacity of 7.4 MTPA of which 3.6 MTPA is in Salalah.