According to local press reports, UltraTech Cement Middle East Investments, a subsidiary of UltraTech Cement, has acquired a 51% stake in Omani mining company Awam Minerals LLC. The purchase highlights Oman’s growing strategic importance as a source of gypsum for the Indian cement industry.
Awam Minerals has a license to mine substantial gypsum deposits in the south of Oman, which will serve as a captive mine for UltraTech Cement’s huge network of plants. The company owns and operates around 12 composite plants, one white cement plant and 16 grinding units in India, which have a combined capacity of approximately 62 million tpa. The cement giant also operates two grinding units and a clinkerisation plant in the UAE, as well as a grinding unit in Bahrain, through its Middle Eastern subsidiary.
UltraTech Cement has announced its financial results for the year ended 31 March 2011. As well as reporting a decline in sales, attributable to slower growth in cement demand, the company also revealed plans to increase cement capacity by 9.2 million tpa over the next three years.