Construction

Emirates Cement rebranded as new Syrian plant launched

Emirates Cement Company has now been rebranded as Lafarge Emirates Cement. Exports account for 30-40 per cent of output from Lafarges quarry and three million tonne capacity factory. CEO, Antoine Duclaux, said that the change in name reflects his companys changing priorities. "Were still happy with the volume of sales in the region," said Duclaux. "But at the time, like all manufacturers, the objective was to sell domestically in Dubai, which we did. But now like most big players we export to Oman and some other captive markets, like Kuwait and Iraq and we are also targeting the Indian Ocean islands, like Mayotte and Mauritius."

JV wins US$675mn Qatar construction contract

Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) has confirmed that Six Construct Qatar (a fully-owned subsidiary of the BESIX Group which is 50 per cent-owned by OCI) has been awarded a US$675mn contract to build phase IIB of the Doha Convention Centre & Tower in Qatar in a joint venture with Midmac Contracting Co. Six Construct Qatar?s share of the contract is approximately US$338mn or 50 per cent of the total contract value.

Nakheel to commence projects as contractor payments recover

Nakheel will reportedly resume work on at least six projects by early October as it settles outstanding bills with contractors. The developer, owned by Dubai World, is restructuring US$10.5 billion owed to banks, contractors and service providers. Last month contractors started to receive payments from Nakheel leaving the way clear for stalled projects around the emirate to resume.

Dohaland awards district cooling plants contract

Dohaland has announced that they have awarded a US$50mn design and build contract for two district cooling plants in its flagship Musheireb project to Drake & Scull Water and Power L.L.C, a subsidiary of Drake & Scull International (DSI) PJSC. The scope of the contract includes the detailed design and construction of district cooling plants comprising the chiller plants and cooling towers and includes all equipment and services. The total capacity of the two proposed district cooling plants is 29,250 TR (tonnage of refrigeration).

UAE energy sector construction contracts triple

The value of total construction contracts awarded in the UAE in the energy sector almost tripled to US$8.8 billion for the period of January to May this year according to project tracker and analysis provider, Ventures Middle East. This is in comparison to US$3 billion for the same period in 2009. Ventures also reported that construction contracts awarded for the UAEs energy sector rose substantially from US$405mn in May 2009 to US$3 billion in May this year.