MUSCAT: Suhar Industrial City signed a cooperation agreement with the Middle East Calcined Clay LLC to establish a specialised factory for the production of Omani ceramic tiles at a total cost of RO 5.4 million on a 45,000 square metres area.
This factory is part of the innovation project in the mining sector, supervised and funded by the Ministry of Energy and Minerals. The Industrial Innovation Academy conducts laboratory analyses, market studies, and practical product experiments by restoring forts, citadels, and historical landmarks, which have proven the efficiency and suitability of the product for commercial production in collaboration with the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism.
Eng Abdullah bin Ahmed al Mayasi, Director General of Suhar Industrial City, and Eng Abdulaziz bin Saeed Al Muqbali, Project Manager at the Middle East Calcined Clay LLC, signed the agreement.
Engi Yahya bin Ahmed al Kharousi, Director of Local Content and Investment Opportunities Development at the Industrial Innovation Academy, emphasised the important role this product plays in adding value to Omani natural resources.
He underscored that research, development, and industrial innovation in Omani raw materials and enabling Omani companies to transform ideas developed in the research stage into products and services that can be produced, marketed, improved in efficiency, cost reduction, and the use of new technology had a significant impact on enhancing innovation and application for the Omani ceramic tile product. This product is vital for the restoration of forts, citadels, and historical landmarks, especially since the Sultanate of Oman has a large number of these landmarks, necessitating the provision of necessary materials locally for their restoration.
He stated that this factory will meet local demand and supply international markets with this product in light of the global trend towards the preservation of historical landmarks, which constitute an economic resource in advanced countries. He added that the Academy played a crucial role in developing this product by reviewing the best global practices to come up with a formula that suits the purposes of restoration and other construction works.
Eng Abdulaziz bin Saeed al Muqbali, Project Manager at Middle East Calcined Clay LLC emphasised the importance of this collaboration to compete in the global clay and construction materials markets, explaining that the factory includes two production lines with a total designed capacity of about 250,000 tons per year. The latest technologies have been taken into account to provide energy efficiency and introduce automation in the production processes.
He added that the factory has a modern laboratory for sample testing and quality control, and initial production operations are expected to start in the first quarter of 2025, providing job opportunities for national workforce and contributing to achieving goals in the national zero-emission programme through its highly-efficient specifications to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. — ONA
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