Gulf Construction Online

Saudi Focus

In Brief

01 March 2019

Work starts on Beesha dam plant

The Saudi General Directorate for Water Services has announced the launch of Phase Two of a key water purification plant at Beesh dam in the Jazan region, said a report.

The initial daily capacity of purified water in this phase will be 20,000 cu m, which will increase gradually to 75,000 cu m a day, reported Saudi Gazette, citing a senior official.

“Once all expansion projects, costing SR86 million ($23 million), are completed, the productivity of the purification plant will reach a stunning 150,000 cu m per day,” stated Bandar Jabr, director general of water services in Jazan.

Consultants sought for STP project

Saudi Arabia’s Water and Electricity Company (WEC) has issued a request for qualification (RFQ) for technical consultants to undertake a pre-feasibility study and assess project technologies related to small-scale sewage treatment plants (STPs).

These STPs located across the kingdom, vary in size from 1,000 to 25,000 cu m per day.

The winning technical consultant will be required to support WEC in privatising these small-scale STP projects. WEC said the scope of work includes GIS analysis, preparation of a pre-feasibility study based on selection of sites besides providing support to the utility company in co-ordination with the relevant water sector stakeholders in Saudi Arabia and local/international potential developers.

The study will include the appropriate treatment technology for treated sewage effluent (TSE) reuse for the initial STPs and future expansion.

Cement demand likely to drop

Saudi Arabia’s cement industry continues to remain under pressure for the third consecutive year, with the local sales volume registering a 13 per cent drop in 2018 compared to the figures of the previous year, according to Al Rajhi Capital.

The average sales prices remained weak in 2018, although the industry witnessed a sharp jump in cement prices sequentially in the last quarter for a number of companies, said the Saudi-based group in its report. This can be attributable to producers’ preference towards higher pricing and postponement of a price war, it stated.

“Going forward, we expect the current sales prices to remain firm as producers are now focused more on pricing rather than volume. Further, the cement demand will continue to decline in 2019, on the back of limited capital spending by the government, coupled with rising construction costs,” it said.