Union Cement gains a regional 'ISO first'
01 MARCH 2001
Union Cement Comany (UCC) says it obtained ISO 14001 environment management system certification in April 2000, becoming the first cement manufacturer in the Middle East to achieve it.
''Improvement is a continuous process at Union Cement,'' says a spokesman for the Ras Al Khaimah-based firm. The company also has ISO 9002 for its quality assurance system.
The spokesman continues: ''As the company is committed to environment protection, huge investments have been made to reduce pollution and a more environment-friendly cement- Portland Limestone Cement - was developed last year.
''UCC's reputation as a high quality and reliable supplier goes back more than 25 years.
Set up in 1972 in the Khor Khwair industrial area, UCC began production in 1975 and currently has a output capacity of over 1.2 million tonnes per year. UCC has played an important role in the development of Ras Al Khaimah and was the first major industrial entity in the region, he points out.
It produces ordinary Portland cement, moderate sulphate-resisting cement, high sulphate-resistant cement, Portland limestone cement and oilwell cement, conforming to international standards and is said to be the only producer of oilwell cement in the UAE.
Cement is delivered to the domestic market and exported in 50 kg bags - palletised/preslung and shrink-wrapped - 1.5-tonne bags and in bulk.
Since UCC has the back up of the research and development department of the Norway-headquartered Scancem International, it is able to offer technical support to customers. ''The most modern laboratory supports quality control from raw material to the finished products,'' he says.
Oilwell cement is sold through UCC's subsidiary, Union Cement Norcem Company (UCN) - UCC's joint venture with Norcem Company, part of the Scancem Group - which was set up in 1980 to market oilwell cement. Scancem International manages both UCC and UCN.
''The know-how to produce oilwell cement conforming to API standards was transferred to UCC and UCN is authorised to use the API monogram for Class 'G' and 'B' cements.
The Norwell brand marketed by UCN is well known for its quality and has been used for past 20 years. More than 2 million tonnes of oilwell cement have been sold under this brand name and more than 6,000 wells have used it.
UCN's quality assurance system also complies with API specification Q1.
