Category: Sustainable Future

Eastern Province Cement Company

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Eastern Province Cement Company

Engineering a Cleaner, Smarter Future from the Eastern Province

A Company in Active Transformation

Eastern Province Cement Company (EPCC), headquartered in Dammam, is one of the established cement manufacturers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, supplying high-quality cement to regional infrastructure and construction projects. The integrated cement plant currently operates four clinker production lines with a total cement capacity of approximately 3.8 million tons per year. The company is at a pivotal moment in its development: a comprehensive transformation program spanning energy efficiency, advanced production technology, digital systems, and renewable energy is underway simultaneously, making EPCC one of the more actively evolving production platforms in the sector.

Two characteristics distinguish EPCC’s position from many of its peers. First, the plant already benefits from natural gas as its primary thermal fuel, supplied from the Jubail-Berri Gas Plant, and draws electrical power from the national grid via Saudi Electricity Company’s 115 kV network. These energy supply choices create a lower baseline carbon intensity than operations reliant on heavier liquid fuels, and provide the technical foundation on which further efficiency improvements compound more effectively. Second, the company is commissioning a new Line-5 clinker production line at 10,000 tons per day capacity that incorporates state-of-the-art process technology throughout, representing a structural step-change in the plant’s performance profile rather than an incremental improvement to existing assets.

Energy Efficiency: Seventeen Initiatives, Measurable Results

EPCC has implemented a structured Energy Efficiency Improvement Program (EEIP) comprising more than 17 discrete initiatives targeting thermal and electrical energy consumption across the plant. The discipline of packaging energy improvement into a formal program with defined initiatives, tracked outcomes, and a named owner structure is itself a marker of organizational maturity. It reflects the understanding that energy efficiency in a cement plant is not a single project but a portfolio of coordinated interventions that together shift the plant’s performance profile.

On the thermal side, the EEIP initiatives have targeted kiln and preheater operation, air leakage reduction in process systems, combustion efficiency improvement, and process equipment upgrades. The combined outcome of these thermal initiatives has delivered annual fuel savings of approximately 80 kcal per kg of clinker. To place this in context: at the scale of a 3.8 million ton per year cement operation, a reduction of 80 kcal per kg of clinker translates directly into a meaningful reduction in CO2 emissions per ton of cement, since every calorie of avoided fuel combustion eliminates the associated combustion emissions while also reducing the heat available to drive the calcination reaction.

On the electrical side, the EEIP has addressed process fans, grinding equipment, motors, and auxiliary systems across the plant. These improvements have achieved an average reduction of approximately 10 kWh per ton of cement in specific electrical consumption. For a plant producing 3.8 million tons of cement annually, a sustained 10 kWh per ton reduction represents approximately 38 million kWh of avoided electricity consumption per year, lowering both operating cost and Scope 2 carbon intensity.

The SIRI assessment confirmed that EPCC’s energy efficiency program is supported by a well-developed operational technology environment. The plant’s production processes are fully automated, with all major production equipment connected through an integrated control system that provides continuous monitoring, deviation alerting, and real-time performance visibility. Facility systems operate with high automation levels, and the Enterprise Connectivity dimension reflects a modern ERP environment accessible in real time from any location. This infrastructure creates the information flow required for energy management to be responsive rather than retrospective.

Line 5

A New Generation of Production Technology

The new 10,000 ton per day clinker production line represents the most significant single investment in EPCC’s operational history and embeds the full range of advanced cement manufacturing technology available today.

The line integrates high-efficiency preheater systems, modern clinker cooler technology, optimized grinding systems, and advanced process control from the ground up. All major process fans are equipped with Variable Frequency Drives, enabling continuous matching of airflow to process demand rather than throttling fixed-speed drives. The design targets 20 to 25 percent lower specific power consumption and 25 to 30 percent lower thermal energy consumption compared with the existing clinker lines. If these design targets are achieved at commercial scale, Line 5 will operate at a significantly lower energy intensity than any of the four existing lines, reducing the blended plant average and establishing a new performance benchmark for the Eastern Province operation.

From an environmental perspective, Line 5 is equipped with modern baghouse filtration systems capable of maintaining dust emissions below 10 mg per normal cubic meter, a level that meets international best-practice standards for particulate emissions. Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction technology is installed to control nitrogen oxide emissions during clinker production, addressing one of the more technically challenging emission streams in cement manufacturing. The combination of sub-10 mg/Nm³ dust control and SNCR-based NOx reduction gives Line 5 an environmental performance profile that aligns with the requirements of the most demanding regulatory frameworks in the global cement sector.

Smart Quality Control

The Robotic Laboratory

As part of the Line 5 modernization program, EPCC is implementing an automated sampling and robotic laboratory system that represents a significant upgrade in process quality control capability.

Automatic sample collectors are installed at key locations across the full production chain: raw material streams, raw meal, kiln feed, clinker, and cement grinding circuits. Samples are automatically transported to the central laboratory where robotic systems perform preparation and analysis, eliminating the handling variability and cycle time of manual sampling. The laboratory integrates online raw material analyzers, online free lime analyzers, online particle size analyzers, and online X-ray fluorescence systems, creating continuous analytical coverage across all critical quality parameters.

The rapid analytical results feed directly into the plant’s process control systems, enabling real-time adjustments to raw mix proportions and grinding parameters without waiting for manual laboratory turnaround. This closed-loop quality control model improves kiln stability by reducing feed chemistry variation, improves product quality by detecting deviations at the earliest possible point in the production chain, and improves energy efficiency by minimizing the rework and overcorrection that result from delayed quality feedback.

The SIRI assessment noted that EPCC’s OT and IT systems are integrated, with information flowing across the hierarchical levels of the automation pyramid. The robotic laboratory, once fully commissioned, will deepen this integration by creating a continuous, machine-generated quality data stream that can inform both process control and enterprise reporting without human intermediary steps.

Saudi Cement Company

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Saudi Cement Company

Seven Decades of Leadership, Calibrated for a Low-Carbon Future

The Scale and the Discipline

Saudi Cement Company (SCC) was established in 1955, making it the founding producer of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s cement industry. Seventy years later, it operates from its Hofuf Plant in the Eastern Province with three production lines producing a combined 8.54 million tons of clinker annually, a cement production volume of 7.31 million tons in 2025, and total sales of 9.03 million tons of cement and clinker, including substantial export volumes to markets across the Middle East, Africa, and beyond.

The numbers are large, but the story that matters for sustainability and industrial transformation is not the scale alone. It is the precision with which SCC manages that scale. A company operating three kilns at 8.5 million tons of clinker per year, running six raw mills and five cement mills, and serving both domestic and export markets across multiple product types is a complex operational system. The performance data that SCC submits annually to the Saudi Energy Efficiency Center confirms that the Hofuf plant manages this complexity with energy efficiency metrics placing it among the leading cement facilities in the Kingdom per ton of cement produced.

Energy Performance: Efficiency at Scale

SCC’s energy performance reflects sustained, systematic investment in both the hardware and the management systems required to operate a large multi-kiln facility efficiently. The plant operates three kiln lines, two of which are modern large-capacity units with 6-stage preheaters and inline calciners, and one older line that serves as a flexible production asset for sulfate-resistant clinker. The specific heat consumption achieved on the two modern kiln lines is consistently close to their design specifications, reflecting well-managed combustion control, stable preheater operation, and disciplined fuel management.

On the electrical side, the plant operates four vertical raw mills and two legacy ball mills alongside five cement mills, producing OPC, SRC, and Oil Well Cement across the product range. The total plant specific power consumption per ton of cement reflects the blended performance of this mixed-vintage asset base and positions SCC among the more efficient multi-kiln operations in the Kingdom. The vertical mill fleet, which carries significantly lower specific power consumption per ton than the ball mill fleet, accounts for the majority of raw meal production volume, contributing to the overall electrical efficiency profile.

The power generation system completed a transition to natural gas as the fuel for captive power generation, supplemented by grid imports. This shift from heavy fuel oil to natural gas in the power plant has reduced the carbon intensity of the electricity generated on-site and improved combustion efficiency. The combination of high-efficiency kiln thermal performance, vertically dominated raw grinding, and gas-fueled captive power generation creates a multi-vector energy efficiency model that compounds across the full production cycle.
The SEEC energy efficiency framework provides the external accountability structure against which SCC’s performance is validated annually. The company engages rigorously with the SEEC data collection and validation process, including third-party crude oil analysis, calorific value documentation, and fuel inventory reconciliation. This level of engagement reflects an institutional commitment to performance transparency that goes well beyond regulatory compliance.

Digital Transformation: Strong Foundations and a Clear Next Stage

SCC’s digital transformation has been built systematically over several years, with the company having implemented substantive Industry 4.0 solutions and now operating from a well-developed digital foundation.

The production technology is sophisticated. Repetitive production processes are fully automated through a Distributed Control System with Advanced Process Control. Raw material blending operates in closed loop with the DCS. The quality laboratory is fully automated, including a robotic arm for sample handling, automated compression and X-ray testing, and automated quality result storage and transfer to the enterprise system. Packing and dispatch are automated through a dedicated VAS system, with Plant Historian interfaced to the Oracle ERP to provide production data flow to the enterprise layer.

The enterprise layer is managed through Oracle Enterprise Business Suite covering all core functions including procurement, order management, invoicing, planning, and sales. Supply chain processes are securely integrated within the organization, and the company holds Aramco CCC cybersecurity certification confirming the security posture of the enterprise IT environment. An OT cybersecurity project is underway to further harden the operational technology network against unauthorized access, targeting compliance with international industrial cybersecurity standards.
The company has already deployed cloud computing for predictive maintenance use cases and has implemented the robotic quality lab as a live Industry 4.0 application. A cross-functional transformation taskforce has been formed to drive and govern further digitalization initiatives, and the company’s leadership has demonstrated the capability to develop and execute Industry 4.0 initiatives independently, without dependence on external partners to define the conceptual direction.

The priority areas for the next phase of transformation center on tightening the integration between the Oracle ERP planning layer and the DCS production execution layer, so that production plan versus actual gaps are visible in real time rather than through periodic reporting. A second priority is deploying advisory intelligence at the shop floor level: moving from the current alarm-based deviation detection model toward systems capable of diagnosing root causes and guiding operators on optimal operating envelopes. A third priority is extending secure connectivity across the full facility system portfolio, making production, asset, and dispatch data accessible in real time through mobile applications while maintaining the cybersecurity discipline the company has already established.

The SIRI assessment conducted in 2023 confirmed that SCC performs on par with or above the General Manufacturing industry average across all relevant dimensions, with particular strength in supply chain integration, workforce learning and development, and leadership competency. The assessment also confirmed that the company’s transformation strategy is being actively implemented in functional areas, not just formulated in planning documents.

Quality and Operational Excellence: A Multi-Standard Commitment

SCC maintains ISO 9001:2015 for quality management, ISO 14001:2015 for environmental management, ISO 45001:2018 for occupational health and safety, and ISO 50001:2018 for energy management. It also maintains SASO quality marks for all products and European CE certification, which strengthens its ability to compete in regional export markets.

This breadth of certification reflects an institutional commitment to management system discipline that creates the accountability infrastructure required for sustained performance improvement. The ISO 50001 energy management certification from TÜV Rheinland is particularly significant in the context of the SEEC framework: it means that the energy management processes behind the SEEC performance data are themselves subject to independent third-party audit, adding a further layer of credibility to the reported energy efficiency metrics.
The company’s environmental compliance program maintains NCEC certifications for the Hofuf Plant, quarries, and Port Terminal, with continuous emission monitoring and periodic third-party measurements. A sewage water treatment plant enables water reuse within plant operations. The waste management system complies with National Center for Waste Management requirements, including active recycling programs. Tree plantation initiatives support the national green cover program.

Saudization reached 63.69 percent of total workforce by end of 2025, with Saudi nationals representing 59.20 percent of new hires during the year. The company operates a Thrift Savings Program for employees in place since 1993, reflecting a long-term commitment to workforce welfare that extends well beyond the current sustainability agenda.

Financial Performance: Resilience in a Competitive Sector

The 2025 financial results reflect the operational efficiency advantages that SCC’s technology investments have generated over time. Revenue was SAR 1.671 billion, essentially flat with 2024 despite a sector environment characterized by overcapacity, compressed margins, and sustained price competition. Gross profit was SAR 603 million. Net income was SAR 364 million. The company distributed SAR 275 million in dividends during 2025, representing 18 percent of paid-up capital, a distribution level that reflects the financial confidence generated by a low-debt, high-cash-generation operating model.

Total cement production reached 7.31 million tons in 2025, a 15 percent increase from 2024, driven by stronger domestic demand and enhanced operational efficiency. The company’s total sales of 9.03 million tons in 2025 includes an export component that represented 40 percent of the National Cement Sector’s total cement and clinker export volume, a market position that reflects both product quality and the reliability of supply that comes from operating a well-maintained, high-capacity facility.

The company’s strategic choice to avoid price wars in the domestic market, accepting some market share pressure in exchange for margin protection, reflects a management philosophy that prioritizes long-term competitiveness over short-term volume. Combined with the efficiency advantages embedded in the plant’s energy performance, this approach has sustained profitability through a prolonged period of sector headwinds.

The Strategic Position: Seven Decades of Earned Advantage

The combination of industry-leading energy efficiency on the modern kiln lines, robust multi-standard quality and environmental certifications, deep digital foundations with live Industry 4.0 applications, experienced leadership with decades of sector specialization, and a demonstrated export market presence constitutes a competitive position built systematically over seven decades.

From FCI’s perspective, SCC represents the Eastern Province’s anchor cement company in the national sustainability transition. Its energy data shows a plant operating at near-design thermal efficiency on the modern kiln lines, with electrical consumption that reflects continuous optimization discipline. Its digital profile shows a company that has built the foundations required for the next generation of performance improvement and has the organizational capability to drive that improvement independently. Its financial performance demonstrates that operational excellence and technology investment are generating returns that sustain the investment cycle through challenging market conditions.

The next chapter involves tightening the connection between planning and execution, deploying shop floor advisory intelligence, and extending secure connectivity infrastructure. These are well-defined challenges with available solutions. A company that has operated successfully for 70 years, maintained strong thermal and electrical efficiency on its flagship production lines, and earned independent cybersecurity certification on its enterprise systems is more than capable of executing them.

Al Jouf Cement Company

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Al Jouf Cement Company

Scientific Innovation, Renewable Energy, and a NEOM Stamp of Approval

A Company That Turned Its Geography Into a Competitive Advantage

Al Jouf Cement Company (AJCC) was established in 2007 as a Saudi joint stock company operating from Turaif in the Northern Borders Province, one of the most geographically isolated production locations in the Kingdom. The plant operates two full production lines manufacturing Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), Pozzolana Portland Cement (PPC), and Sulphate-Resistant Cement (SRC), with a production capacity of approximately 10,000 tons of clinker per day and total clinker production reaching 1,816,559 tons in 2024.

Most companies in AJCC’s geographic position would treat their location as a logistical constraint to be managed. AJCC treated it as a design parameter to be optimized. A natural pozzolana quarry located just 1.5 kilometers from the plant, combined with access to the volcanic deposits of the northern Arabian Peninsula, gave the company a locally available, high-reactivity supplementary cementitious material that most producers must either import or lack entirely. The strategic decision to develop that asset into a full green cement product line, with international standard certification and approval for deployment in the world’s most demanding mega project, is the core of AJCC’s sustainability story.

The Science of Green Cement

How Pozzolana Replaces Clinker

Understanding why AJCC’s green cement program is technically significant requires understanding the chemistry it is built on. Clinker production is the most carbon-intensive stage of cement manufacturing, because the calcination of limestone at temperatures exceeding 1,400 degrees Celsius releases CO2 as an unavoidable process emission, regardless of the fuel used to generate the heat. Every ton of clinker replaced by a supplementary cementitious material eliminates the corresponding process emissions entirely, not merely reduces them.

Natural pozzolana is a siliceous or siliceous-aluminous volcanic material that reacts chemically with calcium hydroxide, the by-product of Portland cement hydration, to form additional calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H). This secondary pozzolanic reaction does not generate heat, which reduces the heat of hydration in large concrete pours. It densifies the cement paste microstructure, reducing permeability and improving resistance to sulfate attack, chloride ingress, and alkali-silica reaction. The concrete produced from pozzolanic cement performs better over its full service life than OPC concrete in aggressive environments, making it not just more sustainable but technically superior for demanding applications.

AJCC’s local black pozzolana achieves a combined SiO2 plus Al2O3 plus Fe2O3 content of 71.93 percent, above the minimum 70 percent threshold specified by international standards. Its fineness at 45 micrometers is 1.8 percent, far below the 34 percent maximum. The Strength Activity Index, the standard measure of pozzolanic reactivity, reaches 92.9 at 7 days and 93.2 at 28 days against a minimum requirement of 75 at both ages. Water requirement is 102 percent against a maximum of 115 percent. These are not marginal compliance figures. They represent a high-reactivity pozzolana that performs at the upper end of what is available commercially anywhere in the world.

Green Cement

CEM II/B-P 42.5R at 30 Percent Clinker Replacement

AJCC’s Green Cement is classified as CEM II/B-P 42.5R under European standard EN 197-1 and Type IP-30 under ASTM C595, with a pozzolana substitution rate of approximately 30 percent in both the Green Cement and Super-20 product lines. The 42.5R designation is significant because the R indicates rapid early strength: the cement achieves 2-day compressive strength of approximately 27 MPa, exceeding the international standard minimum of 20 MPa by a meaningful margin.

This early strength performance at 30 percent clinker replacement is not automatic. It requires careful engineering of three interdependent variables. First, AJCC uses high-reactivity OPC clinker specifically selected to compensate for the dilution effect of the pozzolana substitution, ensuring that the initial hydration reaction produces sufficient calcium hydroxide to drive the pozzolanic reaction at the rate required for early strength development. Second, advanced grinding technology controls the fineness of both the clinker and pozzolana components to optimize particle size distribution and surface area for reaction kinetics. Third, the mix design balances the blending ratios in real time using the QCX automated quality control system in the production laboratory.

The carbon performance of the product has been quantified through a full Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and certified by an independently verified Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). The EPD data shows that AJCC OPC emits 907 kg CO2 equivalent per ton of cement, while Green Cement emits 680 kg CO2 equivalent per ton, a reduction of 25 percent. At the clinker level, the reduction achieves approximately 0.30 tons of CO2 per ton of clinker replaced, consistent with global industry benchmarks for natural pozzolana substitution. AJCC has obtained EPD certifications for multiple products including OPC and Super-20 Cement, registered through the SCS Global Services international platform.

NEOM Approval

The Ultimate Market Validation

The commercial validation of AJCC’s Green Cement program came in a form that carries more weight than any certification or award: approval for use in the NEOM megaproject, including The Line, confirmed through AJCC’s collaboration with Almohelib Group (Asas Al-Muhailb Company). NEOM applies some of the most stringent quality, sustainability, and technical performance requirements for construction materials of any project currently under development anywhere in the world. Approval for use in that project confirms that AJCC’s green cement meets international performance standards at commercial scale.

The path to NEOM approval was not a procurement shortcut. It began with intensive R&D at AJCC’s laboratory, responding to a specific technical brief from the contractor. The team developed the target product formulation, validated the chemistry, conducted concrete mix design trials meeting the project’s specific structural and durability requirements, and submitted the full technical dossier for approval. The process demonstrates the depth of technical capability that AJCC has built around its pozzolana-based product line, and the confidence with which that capability can be deployed in response to demanding customer requirements.

The 22 MWp Solar Partnership with ENGIE

Decarbonizing the Energy Side

Green cement addresses the process emissions side of AJCC’s carbon footprint. The recently signed 25-year Power Purchase Agreement with ENGIE for a 22 MWp solar photovoltaic plant addresses the Scope 2 electrical emissions side. The project was announced at a ceremony at the Turaif plant attended by HH Prince Faisal Bin Sultan Al Saud, Prince of the Northern Borders region, reflecting the national significance of the investment.

The solar installation spans over 420,000 square meters at the Turaif facility, providing on-site power generation designed specifically for the cement plant’s load profile and operating pattern. ENGIE manages all aspects of design, construction, ownership, operation, and maintenance under a fully integrated PPA structure, meaning AJCC purchases the electricity output at a fixed rate over the full 25-year term without capital outlay for the system itself. This structure transfers technology and performance risk to ENGIE while giving AJCC predictable long-term energy cost certainty and immediate access to clean power.

The lifetime CO2 reduction attributable to the solar project is estimated at 1,481,100 tons over the 25-year contract period, averaging approximately 59,244 tons per year. Combined with the clinker substitution reductions from the Green Cement program, the solar partnership represents a material and permanent shift in AJCC’s total carbon profile. It is worth noting that AJCC’s location in the Northern Borders Province, one of the highest solar irradiation regions in Saudi Arabia, makes photovoltaic generation particularly favorable in terms of capacity factor and annual energy yield.

Digital Transformation

A Clear Baseline and a Defined Roadmap

The SIRI assessment conducted in March 2023 places AJCC at a different point in its digital transformation journey than several other companies in this series. The assessment produced 0 dimensions in the bottom performers range, 10 in the broad middle range, and 6 at Best-in-Class level globally. Three connectivity dimensions, Shop Floor, Enterprise, and Facility, scored best-in-class at Band 4 or Band 5, reflecting the quality of the Siemens PCS 7 DCS infrastructure and the SAP enterprise system implementation. Shop Floor Automation achieved Band 4 (Flexible), consistent with a fully DCS-controlled production process. Inter- and Intra-Company Collaboration achieved Band 4 (Collaborating), reflecting the cross-functional team structures and project management capability the company has built.

The dimensions identified as highest-priority for transformation investment are Vertical Integration, Horizontal Integration, Enterprise Intelligence, and Strategy and Governance. These priorities translate into a specific development agenda: automating the connection between SAP production planning and the DCS shop floor layer, moving from manual Excel-based materials requirement planning to SAP MRP-driven procurement, deploying online real-time dashboards for enterprise process performance rather than post-hoc Excel-exported reports, and building the formal Industry 4.0 transformation roadmap that Strategy and Governance at Band 1 indicates is still in its early stages.

The assessor’s comment is precise: the DCS controls 90 percent of shopfloor equipment and 75 percent of utilities using scalable, platform-independent protocols including OPC UA and ODBC, creating strong connectivity infrastructure that is ready to support the next level of integration. The SAP FICO, PP, MM, PM, SD, QM, and HCM modules are implemented and operating, with real-time data access from operator terminals and mobile applications. The foundation is solid. The development priority is building the intelligence and integration layers on top of it, specifically the MES-level integration connecting OT data to enterprise planning and the enterprise analytics capability that turns that integrated data into operational decisions.

The tactical planning horizon selected for the assessment reflects a company that is building the fundamentals before committing to a long-range digital roadmap, which is the right sequencing. A company that has not yet completed vertical integration should not be optimizing supply chain digital twins. AJCC’s approach of establishing a clear baseline, identifying the highest-value next steps, and building systematically is the correct model for this stage of transformation.

The Strategic Significance of Local Materials

One dimension of AJCC’s story that deserves specific attention is the strategic value of owning a natural pozzolana quarry 1.5 kilometers from the plant. Most low-carbon cement strategies depend on supply chains for supplementary cementitious materials, whether fly ash from coal-fired power plants, ground granulated blast furnace slag from steel mills, or imported calcined clay. All of these involve supply chain exposure, quality variability, and logistics cost.

AJCC’s pozzolana quarry is a strategic asset that insulates the company from those exposures. The material is local, consistent in chemistry, available in sufficient volume for the company’s production scale, and adds no transport cost. The 1.5-kilometer haul distance from quarry to plant is negligible. This supply chain independence is particularly significant in the northern Saudi context, where road logistics are the primary transport mode and supply chain reliability is a genuine operational consideration.

The fact that the Arabian Peninsula contains extensive volcanic pozzolana deposits, and that AJCC has ownership rights over deposits adjacent to its plant, represents a competitive and environmental advantage that the company has converted into a commercial product certified to international standards. The combination of local raw material availability, laboratory-developed product formulation, international standard certification, EPD publication, and NEOM approval is the story of how a specific geological asset becomes a sustainability-driven market position.

What This Means for the Sector

From FCI’s perspective, AJCC demonstrates something important for the Saudi cement industry’s decarbonization narrative: the path to lower-carbon cement does not always require imported technology or internationally sourced materials. The Arabian Peninsula’s volcanic geology contains pozzolanic materials of high quality. The technical knowledge to characterize, process, and deploy those materials in certified blended cement products is available. The market is moving toward demanding documented environmental performance. AJCC has assembled all three components and converted them into a commercially approved product line.

The solar PPA with ENGIE adds the renewable energy dimension that addresses the electrical energy side of the footprint. Together, the clinker substitution program and the solar project represent a two-vector decarbonization approach that is technically grounded, commercially validated, and financially structured to deliver long-term value.

The SIRI assessment provides an honest and well-structured baseline for the digital transformation journey that will complete the picture. The connectivity infrastructure is world-class. The integration and intelligence layers are the next investment priority. AJCC knows where it stands, knows where it needs to go, and has the technical and commercial momentum to get there.

Yanbu Cement Company

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Yanbu Cement Company

An Industrial Lighthouse in the Making

A Legacy of Nearly Five Decades

Pointed Toward the Future

Yanbu Cement Company was established in 1977 and began operations in 1979 with two dry kilns, each producing 3,000 tons of clinker per day. Nearly five decades later, the company operates two production lines with a combined daily clinker capacity of 21,000 tons, an annual clinker output of 7 million tons, and cement packing and delivery capacity of 30,000 tons per day. It is the largest cement company in the western region of Saudi Arabia and one of the largest in the Kingdom, with a paid-up capital of SAR 1.575 billion, a market capitalization of SAR 6.38 billion, and revenues of SAR 876 million in 2024, up 6 percent from 2023, with net profit growing 31 percent to SAR 157 million.

That financial trajectory reflects operational discipline, not favorable market conditions. The broader Saudi cement sector in 2024 faced overcapacity, compressed margins, and export headwinds from Red Sea geopolitical disruption. Yanbu grew its sales and profit in that environment by building the kind of operational, digital, and sustainability capability that converts market presence into competitive advantage. The company’s vision captures this ambition precisely: to always be the first choice for its partners. Everything in the transformation agenda is oriented toward earning that position, not merely claiming it.

The SIRI Assessment

16 of 16 Dimensions Best-in-Class

The SIRI assessment conducted in May 2023 produced a result that is, across the entire FCI article series, unmatched. Yanbu Cement achieved Best-in-Class status on all 16 SIRI dimensions, with zero dimensions in the bottom performers range and zero in the broad middle range. Every single dimension scored above the General Manufacturing industry average. This places Yanbu Cement not just at the top of the Saudi cement sector in digital maturity, but at the frontier of global manufacturing more broadly.

The detailed scores explain why. Connectivity achieved Band 5 (Scalable) across all three dimensions: Shop Floor, Enterprise, and Facility. This means that production assets, enterprise IT systems, and facility systems are all interoperable, real-time, and scalable, with cybersecurity embedded throughout. Leadership Competency achieved Band 5 (Adaptive), recognizing that management can independently adapt the organizational transformation framework to changing trends and technologies without dependence on external partners for conceptual guidance. Workforce Learning and Development achieved Band 4 (Adaptive), reflecting integrated L&D programs actively developed and refreshed based on stakeholder feedback loops. Shop Floor Intelligence achieved Band 4 (Predictive), the level at which computerized OT and IT systems can diagnose problems and predict future states of assets and systems, not just identify deviations.

The production technology underpinning these scores is specific. Lines 4 and 5 are fully automated by FLSmidth ECS/ControlCenter with Siemens S7-400 control systems. The ECS/ProcessExpert (PXP) system, a model-based predictive control application, optimizes raw meal blending in real time using inputs from the QCX laboratory system, which itself incorporates AutoSampling, RoboLab, and BlendExpert modules. The ECS/UptimeGo application automates downtime root cause analysis. At the finished goods warehouse, packing and loading are fully automated by packing machines and robotic systems. Enterprise processes are managed by Oracle Cloud ERP with automated workflow engines that can be modified on the fly, and the company was in the process of deploying an Oracle Cloud Customer Experience (CX) platform for customer self-service at the time of the SIRI assessment.

The assessor’s forward-looking recommendations reflect the quality of the starting point. Rather than identifying gaps, the assessor focused on the transition from integration to automation: in Vertical Integration, moving toward automatic synchronization between planning and daily operations via further OT-IT integration; in Horizontal Integration, moving toward a supply chain digital twin using Advanced Planning and Scheduling; and in Shop Floor Intelligence, moving toward adaptive intelligence where predictive models prescribe solutions under all conditions rather than simply predicting outcomes.
The company has since progressed along all three of these vectors, launching the Tayseer ERP project, the largest digital transformation initiative in the company’s history, and deploying AI-driven automation programs that monitor industrial process key indicators, including temperature and feed rates, and make operational decisions in real time. The AI system continuously learns from past process analyses, progressively enhancing its own predictive capabilities.

Recognized as a Future Factories Leader

In January 2023, Yanbu Cement launched an ambitious strategy structured around four pillars: institutional maturity, business excellence, sustainability and growth, and business diversification with enhanced governance. That strategy has already produced measurable recognition. The company achieved second place nationally in the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources’ Future Factories Program, evaluated under the SIRI framework by INCIT. It was subsequently nominated among the top 20 qualified companies to become a global industrial lighthouse, recognized by the World Economic Forum as among the world’s most advanced manufacturing facilities in Industry 4.0 adoption.

The company also received the Governance Indicators Improvement Award for the third consecutive year at the International Corporate Governance Conference in Riyadh in December 2024, evaluated by the Corporate Governance Center at Al Faisal University. These two recognitions, for digital maturity and governance quality, are not separate stories. They reflect a single integrated transformation that has embedded performance, transparency, and accountability simultaneously across the organization.

Sustainability

The First ESG Report and a Documented Carbon Pathway

In 2024, Yanbu Cement published its first annual sustainability report, prepared in accordance with GRI Standards 2021. The report documents, for the first time in the company’s history, its full environmental footprint, social performance, and governance framework in a format accessible to external stakeholders and benchmarkable against international standards.
The headline environmental achievement is the Waste Heat Recovery system, which meets approximately 25 percent of the facility’s total electricity demand from thermal energy that would otherwise be lost through kiln exhaust. The WHR contribution reduces dependence on fossil-fuel-based captive power generation and has contributed to a cumulative CO2 reduction of 100,000 tons annually since implementation. Total Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions in 2024 were approximately 4.69 million tons of CO2 equivalent, with 99.9 percent attributable to Scope 1 (direct) sources, primarily calcination and fuel combustion in kilns.

The company has established a documented carbon reduction pathway targeting 30 percent reduction in CO2 intensity per ton of cement by 2030 compared to its 2020 baseline of 0.810 tons CO2 per ton of cement. The pathway is structured around seven levers: green additive substitution in the product portfolio (6.6 percent reduction contribution), fuel switching to natural gas and alternative fuels (9.4 percent), energy efficiency in raw mills, cement mills, and operations excellence (5.4 percent combined), renewable electricity (6 percent), afforestation (1 percent), voluntary carbon markets (5 percent), and new technologies including carbon capture (72 percent of the long-term 2060 net-zero ambition). The 2024 actual intensity of 0.739 tons CO2 per ton of cement reflects progress from the 2020 baseline, with further reductions accelerating as fuel and product mix changes take effect.

The specific power consumption trajectory confirms the energy efficiency trend: from 122 kWh per ton of cement in 2018 to 107 kWh per ton in 2024, achieved through operational improvements including Line 4 pyroproduction rehabilitation, process expert system deployment, and transition to LED lighting across 85 percent of indoor facilities. Thermal energy consumption for clinker production has fallen from 831 kcal per kg in 2018 to 780 kcal per kg in 2024.

The company obtained Environmental Product Declaration certifications for all four of its product types, OPC Premium, PPC, SRC, and LPC, registered and published through the SCS Global Services international platform.

These EPDs provide independently verified life-cycle environmental data for each product, enabling customers and contractors to document the carbon profile of their construction materials and earn credits under LEED and other green building schemes.

Green Cement, EPDs, and the Product Portfolio

Yanbu’s product portfolio reflects its sustainability positioning. PPC (Portland Pozzolana Cement) uses natural pozzolana as a partial clinker substitute at up to 30 percent substitution, delivering lower CO2 intensity and improved durability in sulfate-rich and chloride-exposed environments. LPC (Limestone Portland Cement) uses limestone as a clinker substitute at up to 35 percent substitution, producing a bright finishing product with reduced carbon footprint. The company has been increasing green additive proportions across its product mix, with the sustainability roadmap targeting further increases in SCM substitution rates through 2030.

The company is also studying the transition from traditional paper cement bags to eco-friendly plastic bags, reflecting attention to downstream sustainability across the full product life cycle, including packaging waste. The subsidiaries support this portfolio strategy: Yanbu Saudi-Kuwaiti Paper Products Company, a wholly owned subsidiary established in 2005 with annual bag production capacity of approximately 160 million bags, provides an integrated packaging capability, while the Cement Knowledge Center for Training, a joint venture with FLSmidth, develops the technical workforce required to operate and improve advanced production systems.

The Cement Knowledge Center

Building the Sector's Next Generation

The Cement Knowledge Center for Training, established as a joint venture between Yanbu Cement and Denmark’s FLSmidth, is one of the most distinctive elements of the company’s contribution to the sector. The center has a capacity of 100 trainees annually and offers short, medium, and long-term training programs designed to equip Saudi engineers with the practical and theoretical knowledge required for the cement industry. In 2024, the center graduated 20 Saudi engineers from its Engineers Professional Development Program (EPDP), a six-month program designed to qualify newly graduated engineers for the labor market through project-based learning that addresses real operational challenges.

The graduation ceremony was attended by officials from the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, recognizing the center’s role in localizing essential industrial expertise. From FCI’s perspective, this initiative represents something the sector as a whole needs: an institutional model for building the Saudi cement engineering talent base that will be needed as the industry’s transformation deepens. Yanbu Cement is not just transforming itself. It is building the training infrastructure for the sector’s next generation.

Marine Conservation and Environmental Stewardship

Yanbu Cement’s environmental commitment extends beyond the plant fence. The company is a key partner in the Ras Beridi Turtle Reserve Development Project, supporting the conservation of endangered hawksbill sea turtles and green sea turtles in the Red Sea, adjacent to the company’s coastal plant location. The initiative includes advanced hatchery development for baby turtles, coastal sand rehabilitation to support nesting, tree planting for environmental diversity, architectural development meeting international nature reserve standards, and complete replacement of the factory beach lighting system with specialized turtle-safe lighting designed to prevent disorientation of hatchlings.

Yanbu Cement also participated in the First International Conference on Marine Turtle Conservation in the Red Sea in collaboration with the Shams Initiative, and its contribution to the National Afforestation Program was recognized by the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture. The company targets planting 200,000 seedlings by 2030, completing its 2025 target of 25,000 trees on schedule. In 2024, the company also participated in the Regional Voluntary Carbon Market auction organized by Saudi Arabia’s Voluntary Carbon Market, with credits registered under the VERRA program and aligned with the CORSIA standards, formalizing its engagement with the international carbon credit ecosystem.

What This Means for the Sector

From FCI’s perspective, Yanbu Cement is the most comprehensively documented transformation case in the Saudi cement sector. The combination of 16-of-16 SIRI Best-in-Class performance, second place nationally in the Future Factories Program, nomination for Global Lighthouse Network candidacy, the Kingdom’s first GRI-aligned sustainability report from a cement company, EPDs for all products, a documented 30 percent CO2 reduction pathway, a Waste Heat Recovery system meeting 25 percent of plant electricity demand, governance award recognition for three consecutive years, and the industry-unique Cement Knowledge Center training model represents a breadth and depth of transformation that sets a new benchmark for the sector.

The fact that Yanbu Cement’s SIRI assessment was conducted with Mohamed Zayed in the role of Performance Manager as Point of Contact reflects an alignment between this FCI article series and the company’s transformation journey that goes beyond documentation. Yanbu Cement’s experience is, in many respects, the reference architecture against which the broader sector can orient its own development roadmaps.

The industrial lighthouse is not yet formally designated. But the trajectory is clear, and the evidence is documented.

Al Safwa Cement Company

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Alsafwa Cement Company

The Kingdom’s Circular Economy Pioneer in Heavy Industry

A Company That Chose Its Identity Early

Alsafwa Cement Company was established in the western region of Saudi Arabia in 2007 and is owned by El-Khayyat Group and the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI). With a cement production capacity of 4.2 million tons per year and a portfolio of eight cement products covering everything from Ordinary Portland Cement and Sulphate-Resistant Cement to White Cement and Oil Well Cement, Alsafwa serves a market that includes some of the most demanding construction projects in the Kingdom: the Prophet’s Mosque Expansion, the Holy Mosque of Makkah Expansion, the Haramain High Speed Railway, King Abdulaziz International Airport, and Jeddah Tower.

What distinguishes Alsafwa from most of its peers is a strategic decision made early in its operational life to position the company not just as a cement manufacturer but as an environmental solutions provider. In 2014, the company initiated a program of industrial ecology, formalizing its sustainability mission around two explicit commitments: to lead the change in Saudi Arabia as an environmentally responsible pioneer in heavy industry, and to become an efficient energy and green solution provider. That framing shaped every major investment decision the company made in the decade that followed.

The result, as of 2026, is a company with the most comprehensive alternative fuel and alternative raw material program in the Saudi cement sector, a nationally recognized digital maturity profile, and an active carbon capture pilot project that was announced at the highest level of the Saudi Green Initiative.

The Coprocessing Platform

Waste as a Resource

Alsafwa’s sustainability story begins with a recognition of the geography and industrial context of its location. The western region of Saudi Arabia generates substantial volumes of industrial waste, including carbon ash from heavy fuel oil combustion in desalination and power generation plants, scrap tires from the Jeddah urban agglomeration, and industrial waste oils and sludge from the refineries and petrochemical complexes at Yanbu. Most of this waste historically accumulated in landfills or was disposed of through methods that generated additional environmental costs. Alsafwa chose to treat these waste streams as fuel and raw material inputs rather than disposal problems.

The carbon ash program began with multi-million SAR investments starting in 2016. Carbon ash, also known as soot, is a byproduct of the incomplete combustion of heavy fuel oil in industrial boilers. Its handling and disposal present a persistent environmental challenge for the desalination and power generation sectors that produce it in large volumes. Alsafwa signed long-term contracts with several companies to receive and coprocess their carbon ash, injecting it into cement kilns as an alternative fuel. The company obtained the first-of-its-kind environmental license in Saudi Arabia for the coprocessing of waste tires, waste oils, and carbon ash in cement kilns, a regulatory milestone that created the legal and technical precedent for the broader alternative fuel sector in the Kingdom.

The tire-derived fuel program is the most visually compelling dimension of the coprocessing portfolio. In 2019, Jeddah’s main tire landfill held an estimated 12 million accumulated tires, with approximately 2 million new tires being added each year. Alsafwa constructed and operates the largest tire shredding facility in Saudi Arabia, with a processing capacity of 4.8 million tires annually, and signed a long-term agreement with Jeddah Municipality to receive and process these tires as kiln fuel. Since launching the facility in 2019, the company has processed more than 6 million tires. The satellite imagery comparison of the Jeddah landfill between 2019 and 2023 is a direct and visible demonstration of the program’s environmental impact: a landfill that was growing has been materially reduced.

The alternative raw materials program extends the same philosophy to the solid inputs of cement production. Alsafwa has achieved 100 percent substitution of natural gypsum with synthetic gypsum, a by-product of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) processes in industrial plants. Natural gypsum is a mined material; synthetic gypsum is an industrial waste. Using it eliminates a disposal problem for the industrial sector while reducing the environmental cost of gypsum extraction for the cement sector. The company has similarly achieved 100 percent substitution of iron ore with mill scale, a waste product from steel manufacturing companies, eliminating a mining input entirely and creating value from an industrial by-product. A third substitution program is in progress: replacing bauxite in the raw mix with red mud, a by-product of the alumina manufacturing process that currently poses significant waste management challenges for the aluminum industry.

Taken together, the carbon ash, tire-derived fuel, synthetic gypsum, mill scale, and red mud programs constitute one of the most comprehensive waste-to-resource integration models in the Saudi cement industry. Alsafwa is not operating a single alternative fuel project. It is operating a systematic platform for industrial symbiosis, in which waste streams from multiple industries are converted into productive inputs for cement manufacturing, reducing landfill volumes, eliminating fossil fuel and mining inputs, and lowering the carbon intensity of every ton of cement produced.

The Yanbu Industrial Waste Management Facility

The coprocessing platform is being extended to a new geographic dimension through the Yanbu Industrial Waste Management Facility, currently in development under a 30-year contract with the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu. This facility will treat industrial solid, semi-solid, and liquid waste including industrial wastewater and sludge from the heavy industries, refineries, petrochemical plants, and electricity generation facilities in the Yanbu industrial complex, converting them into alternative fuels for cement kiln use. Phase 1 focuses on waste oils and oily sludge. Project completion is expected by the end of 2027.

The Yanbu facility represents a significant scaling of the industrial symbiosis model. Yanbu Industrial City is one of the Kingdom’s most concentrated heavy industrial zones, generating industrial waste streams that have historically required costly treatment and disposal. A 30-year contract to manage and process those streams creates a durable revenue base for Alsafwa’s alternative fuel operations while delivering a long-term environmental service to the industrial ecosystem of the entire region.

Solar Power and the Energy Transition Roadmap

Alsafwa is also advancing a solar power project at its plant, targeting a capacity that will support up to 50 percent of the plant’s required electrical power during daylight hours. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2027, aligned with the broader Yanbu industrial waste facility timeline. The plant’s location in the western region, with its high solar irradiation and low cloud cover, makes photovoltaic generation particularly well-suited as a primary renewable energy source. Once operational, the solar installation will directly reduce the Scope 2 emissions associated with grid electricity consumption and lower the per-ton energy cost across the production cycle.

The combination of the solar project, the natural gas and alternative fuel coprocessing programs, and the carbon capture pilot constitutes a multi-vector energy transition strategy that addresses the full emissions profile of the plant: Scope 1 thermal emissions through fuel switching and carbon capture, Scope 2 electrical emissions through solar generation, and embedded carbon in raw materials through alternative input substitution.

Digital Maturity

2.648 and Above the Saudi Cement Average

The SIRI assessment conducted in November 2023 by Kafaa produced an overall score of 2.648 out of 5 for Alsafwa’s cement plant. The Technology building block achieved the strongest score at 3.11, reflecting the quality of the plant’s automation and connectivity infrastructure. Process scored 2.33 and Organization scored 2.50, with the assessor identifying Organization development as the clearest area for improvement.

The benchmarking results are notable. Against the global manufacturing sector, Alsafwa has zero dimensions in the bottom performers range, seven in the broad middle, and nine in the best-in-class range. Against the Saudi cement industry specifically, comparing 16 cement factories, Alsafwa exceeds the industry average in 11 of 16 dimensions. The Facility Connectivity dimension was highlighted as a standout, with Alsafwa exceeding the Saudi cement industry average by a significant margin. The overall assessment positions Alsafwa in the upper tier of digital maturity within the Kingdom’s cement sector.

The priority dimensions identified for the next phase of development are Vertical Integration, Shop Floor Intelligence, Inter- and Intra-Company Collaboration, and Strategy and Governance. The INCIT benchmark analysis quantifies the business impact of improving these dimensions: Vertical Integration improvement is projected to increase productivity by 12 percent and decrease miscommunication by 39 percent, while Strategy and Governance improvement is projected to accelerate decision-making and increase workforce productivity by 14 percent. These projections provide the company with a clear return-on-investment framework for prioritizing its digital roadmap investments.

The Product Portfolio

Breadth as a Competitive Commitment

Alsafwa’s eight-product portfolio reflects both the breadth of construction applications it serves and the technical capability required to manufacture across that range. OPC 52.5N and PPC 52.5N serve high-strength structural applications. SRC 42.5N addresses sulphate-rich environments and underground structures. PRECASTO 52.5R serves precast manufacturers requiring rapid strength gain. BONYAN 42.5N targets concrete blocks and precast wall systems. White Cement 52.5R serves architectural and finishing applications. Oil Well Cement Class G Grade HSR addresses the drilling industry. JODRAN 42.5N covers general plastering, block laying, and finishing work.

The reference project list confirms that this portfolio is not theoretical. Alsafwa cement has been specified and used in the Prophet’s Mosque Expansion, the Holy Mosque of Makkah Expansion, the Haramain High Speed Railway, King Abdulaziz International Airport, the Jeddah Formula 1 Circuit, Al Johara Stadium, and Jeddah Tower. These are among the most demanding and high-profile construction projects in Saudi Arabia, where product quality, consistency, and reliable supply are non-negotiable. Delivering cement to this project portfolio while simultaneously running an alternative fuel program that includes tire-derived fuel and carbon ash coprocessing demonstrates that Alsafwa’s environmental program operates within, rather than at the expense of, its commercial performance standards.

What This Means for the Sector

From FCI’s perspective, Alsafwa Cement has built the most comprehensive industrial symbiosis model currently operating in the Saudi cement sector. The combination of carbon ash coprocessing, tire-derived fuel at scale, 100 percent synthetic gypsum and mill scale substitution, the 30-year waste management contract, and the solar energy program constitutes a genuinely integrated sustainability platform rather than a collection of individual projects.

The company’s first-mover status on environmental licensing for coprocessing, its national recognition at the Saudi Green Initiative as a carbon capture pioneer, and its above-average digital maturity profile across 11 of 16 SIRI dimensions all reinforce a consistent strategic identity: a cement producer that has chosen to lead the Kingdom’s industrial ecology transition rather than follow it.

The roadmap to 2027, with the solar plant and Yanbu facility completing in the same year, will extend this platform significantly. The carbon capture pilot, if it reaches commercial scale, will be a landmark achievement not just for Alsafwa but for the entire sector’s decarbonization trajectory.

Umm Al Qura Cement Company

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Umm Al Qura Cement Company

Precision, Efficiency, and a Clear Transition Roadmap from the Makkah Region

A Young Plant with Mature Ambitions

Umm Al Qura Cement Company (UACC) began commercial production in 2016 from its facility near the Taif Governorate in the Makkah region, located along the Taif-Riyadh highway approximately 100 kilometers from Taif Airport. With an annual clinker production capacity of 1.92 million tons and a cement production capacity of 2.3 million tons, the plant is a mid-scale producer operating in one of the most strategically important construction markets in the Kingdom, serving the western and southern regions that encompass Makkah, Jeddah, and the broader Hajj and Umrah infrastructure corridor.

What makes UACC’s story worth examining closely is not the scale of the operation but the quality of the performance trajectory. Since commencing operations less than a decade ago, the company has built a documented record of energy efficiency improvement, clinker factor reduction, waste reduction, and environmental management that places it among the top performers in the sector on several measurable dimensions. The direction of travel on every major sustainability indicator is unambiguously the right one, and the roadmap for the next phase of the transition is already in execution.

Energy Efficiency

Third in the Kingdom on Electrical Performance

The SEEC 2024 Performance Card results are the most authoritative external benchmark available for comparing UACC’s energy performance against its sector peers. On electrical efficiency, UACC ranked third out of 19 cement plants assessed in Saudi Arabia. That is a top-tier performance position, achieved by reducing overall plant specific power consumption from 109 kWh per ton of cement in 2021 to 98.1 kWh per ton in 2025, a reduction of approximately 10 percent over four years driven by grinding efficiency improvements, separator optimization, and systematic reduction in auxiliary power consumption across the facility.

On thermal efficiency, UACC achieved a specific heat consumption of 2.97 MMBTU per ton of clinker, ranking 11th out of 38 cement plants nationally. This places the company in the upper third of the sector on thermal performance, reflecting a well-managed kiln system with stable combustion control and effective process discipline.

These rankings are not simply favorable numbers. They represent UACC’s position relative to every other operating cement facility in the Kingdom assessed under the same framework, using the same measurement methodology and the same performance boundaries. Third nationally on electrical efficiency, in a plant less than a decade old, is a result that reflects both the quality of the installed technology and the operational discipline of the team managing it.

Complementing these headline figures is a plant-level heat integration measure that demonstrates the kind of systems-level thinking that compounds efficiency gains. The plant design incorporates a waste heat utilization system that captures exhaust heat from the power plant and uses it to preheat heavy fuel oil at the main storage tanks. This integrated heat recovery loop reduces the external energy input required for fuel handling, improving the overall thermal balance of the facility at no additional fuel cost. It is a small but instructive example of how UACC approaches efficiency: systematically, at the system level, rather than through isolated interventions.

Clinker Factor Reduction

The Carbon Story Behind the Numbers

Clinker production is the primary source of CO2 in cement manufacturing, accounting for both the fuel-related emissions from kiln heating and the process emissions from limestone calcination. Every percentage point of clinker replaced by supplementary cementitious materials in the final cement product reduces both the energy demand and the CO2 intensity of that product proportionally. This makes the clinker factor the single most important variable in the decarbonization equation for any cement producer.

UACC has been systematically reducing its clinker factor across its product range through continuous process optimization and raw material utilization improvements. The progress is documented over multiple years, with a specific product in the portfolio achieving a clinker factor as low as 74 percent. That figure is among the most aggressive clinker substitution levels being achieved at commercial scale in the Saudi market and reflects genuine product and process engineering capability, since maintaining cement quality and SASO compliance at high substitution rates requires tight control of SCM chemistry, grinding parameters, and quality testing protocols.

The average clinker factor across the full product mix has also declined steadily, with the 2025 reduction representing a meaningful step in material efficiency and a direct contribution to lower carbon intensity per ton of cement produced. UACC produces Ordinary Portland Cement, Portland Pozzolana Cement, Sulphate-Resistant Cement, and Portland Limestone Cement, giving the company a product range that covers both standard and specialized construction applications while offering customers a choice of carbon intensity profiles.

The 2023 SIRI assessment identified clinker factor reduction and SCM utilization as directly connected to the company’s strategic priority of environmental and green plant development. The strategic plans underway at the time of the assessment explicitly identified green initiatives as a priority direction for investment and process development, and the 2025 performance data confirms that those priorities have been translated into measurable results.

Waste Management

A 52 Percent Reduction in One Year

Environmental management at UACC has delivered results in 2024 to 2025 that are among the most dramatic in this article series. Total solid waste generation decreased by approximately 52 percent between 2024 and 2025. Non-hazardous solid waste fell from 286 tons to 150 tons. Hazardous solid waste fell from 129 tons to 8 tons, a reduction of approximately 67 percent. Liquid hazardous waste decreased from 168 tons to 114 tons over the same period.

These reductions reflect a combination of improved waste segregation practices, better process control that reduces waste generation at source, and structured recycling programs. Approximately 190 tons of used bag filters were successfully recycled during this period, diverting a significant volume of industrial material from disposal. Additionally, UACC recycles 100 percent of the alkali dust generated during kiln operation by reintegrating it into cement grinding, eliminating this waste stream entirely within the production process.

Water management deserves specific mention given the severe water stress of the Taif region. UACC does not draw from underground water resources and relies entirely on purchased water transported from external sources, making every liter of water consumed a direct cost and environmental consideration. The company has eliminated water use in raw material grinding and in gas conditioning, the latter achieved through optimized kiln operation that maintains gas temperatures within the range where water injection is not required. Specific water consumption has been maintained at approximately 23 kg per ton of cement across both 2024 and 2025 despite increased production volumes, and 100 percent of treated wastewater is recycled for cement mill operations and agricultural purposes.

The land management program has addressed a specific environmental challenge unique to the plant’s location: wind-driven dust from exposed sandy surfaces. UACC covered approximately 100,000 square meters of plant area with natural basalt gravel, significantly reducing dust dispersion within the facility and improving environmental conditions for both the plant workforce and the surrounding area.

Digital Transformation

The SAP S/4HANA Upgrade

UACC’s digital transformation journey is at an important inflection point. The company operates SAP ECC 6.0 as its enterprise resource planning backbone, supported by ABB 800xA for production automation covering Level 0 to Level 2 of the ISA-95 automation hierarchy. The SIRI assessment conducted in 2023 identified the priority dimensions for the next phase of transformation as Vertical Integration, Horizontal Integration, Shop Floor Intelligence, and Workforce Learning and Development, and the company’s internal plans have been structured around those priorities.

The most significant digital initiative currently in execution is the upgrade from SAP ECC 6.0 to SAP S/4HANA. This is more than a software version upgrade. SAP S/4HANA enables real-time integration between production and financial data that SAP ECC cannot deliver, improved production planning through process manufacturing functionality specifically designed for continuous flow industries like cement, enhanced cost monitoring with granular visibility into production cost per ton, and faster decision-making through real-time reporting rather than batch-processed overnight reports. The transition to SAP S/4HANA creates the data infrastructure required for the vertical and horizontal integration improvements the SIRI assessment identified as the highest-value transformation priorities.

The SIRI assessment placed UACC with 14 of 16 dimensions performing on par with or above the General Manufacturing industry average, with zero dimensions in the bottom performers range. Shop Floor Connectivity achieved Band 4 (Real-Time), reflecting the quality of the ABB 800xA connectivity infrastructure. Facility Intelligence achieved Band 3 (Diagnostic), supported by real-time monitoring from the Wartsila and CNBM O&M contractors. The Strategy and Governance dimension achieved Band 3 (Implementation), recognizing that a formal long-term digitization and modernization plan had been developed and was in active execution at the time of assessment.

The Energy Transition Roadmap

Gas, Grid, and Solar

UACC’s forward-looking energy strategy addresses all three dimensions of its energy cost and emissions profile: fuel type, grid connection reliability, and renewable generation. The three programs are being executed in parallel, each with a defined timeline and technical scope.

The natural gas transition is the most strategically significant of the three. UACC currently operates on heavy fuel oil, which carries both a higher carbon intensity and a more volatile price exposure than natural gas. The gas pipeline connection to the facility is scheduled to become available in 2028, and rather than waiting for the connection to materialize before beginning technical preparation, UACC has initiated its groundwork now. Technical and commercial evaluations for the in-house gas reduction station are currently in progress. The gas burner system has already been finalized with Fives Pillard, a globally recognized leader in industrial combustion systems, ensuring that when the pipeline connection is ready, the plant can transition without delay. This sequencing reflects the same forward-thinking operational discipline visible in the plant’s energy efficiency and waste management programs.

The grid station connection project is currently under implementation and is expected to be completed by August 2026. A reliable grid connection strengthens the plant’s power supply security and supports improved energy efficiency by reducing dependence on captive power generation. The third energy initiative is the development of a 10 MW solar photovoltaic project, which is currently in the exploration and feasibility stage. A 10 MW solar installation would provide a meaningful share of the plant’s electrical demand from clean generation, reducing Scope 2 emissions and lowering the variable energy cost per ton of cement produced.

Taken together, these three energy transition programs constitute a phased, technically grounded pathway from the current HFO-dependent operating model toward a lower-carbon, more cost-efficient energy configuration by the end of the decade.

The SEEC Framework as a Performance Anchor

One dimension of UACC’s sustainability story that is worth highlighting specifically for its institutional significance is the company’s engagement with the SEEC Energy Efficiency Framework. UACC submits data annually, participates in validation and measurement and verification processes, and tracks its performance against the framework’s targets and peer benchmarks. The 2024 performance card confirms compliance with the second cycle annual requirements, with electrical efficiency performance better than the target of 111.5 kWh per ton of cement.

This level of engagement with external performance accountability creates a virtuous cycle. The SEEC ranking creates an incentive to improve, the improvement data creates a verified record, and the verified record informs the next round of investment decisions. For a company of UACC’s age and scale, embedding itself in this accountability framework from an early stage in its operational life is a strategic decision that will compound in value as the framework’s requirements become more stringent over time.

What This Means for the Sector

From FCI’s perspective, UACC represents a specific type of industrial story that the Saudi cement sector needs more documentation of: a younger producer that designed its sustainability agenda into its operating model from the beginning rather than retrofitting it onto a legacy facility, and that has executed that agenda with the precision and discipline required to generate sector-leading performance results.

The combination of a third-place national ranking on electrical efficiency, a documented clinker factor reduction to 74 percent in its most advanced product, a 52 percent total waste reduction in a single year, and a structured multi-year energy transition roadmap covering natural gas, grid reliability, and solar generation is not a coincidence. It reflects consistent strategic intent, operational discipline, and a management culture that measures what matters and improves what it measures.

The trajectory from here, with SAP S/4HANA integration underway, the natural gas transition in technical preparation, and the solar project in development, points toward a plant that will be meaningfully more efficient, lower-carbon, and digitally capable by 2028 than it is today. That is the definition of a sustainable industrial trajectory.

Najran Cement Company

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Najran Cement Company

First-Mover Thinking and Integrated Innovation in Saudi Arabia’s Najran Region

A Consistent Pattern of Going First

Najran Cement Company (NCC) has a documented track record of being the first in the Saudi cement industry to implement technologies and practices that the broader sector later adopts. It was the first cement plant in the Kingdom to install and commission one of the largest Waste Heat Recovery steam turbine generator systems in the cement sector. It has been producing blended cement with supplementary cementitious materials since 2012, a decade before green cement became a mainstream conversation in Saudi Arabia. And it launched Wasel, the first B2B cement sales and delivery mobile application of its kind among Saudi cement companies.

This pattern of early adoption is not accidental. It reflects an organizational philosophy described by NCC’s own leadership as a commitment to continuous improvement and operational excellence, supported by a management structure with both the technical depth and the institutional confidence to invest ahead of the market. Understanding NCC’s sustainability and digital transformation agenda requires understanding this first-mover culture as the organizing logic behind individual initiatives.

The WHR Achievement

Defining a New Benchmark for the Kingdom

NCC operates three clinker production lines at its main plant in Al-Mandafan: Line 1 at 6,000 tons per day, Line 2 at 3,000 tons per day, and Line 3 at 6,500 tons per day, giving a total clinker production capacity of approximately 15,500 to 16,000 tons per day. To meet the power requirements of this three-line facility, the company also operates a 10-unit diesel generator power plant with 75 MW of installed capacity.

The Waste Heat Recovery system that NCC designed and commissioned was built to serve all three kiln lines simultaneously, along with the exhaust heat from the 10 diesel generator sets. The system consists of 18 boilers in total: five preheater boilers, three Air Quench Cooler (AQC) boilers, and 10 diesel generator waste heat boilers. These feed two dual-pressure steam turbine generators, each rated at 15 MW, for a total WHR capacity of 30 MW. The system was engineered and constructed by Sinoma Energy Conservation of China, with project consulting by Holtec Consulting.

The performance numbers for this system are specific and substantial. The 30 MW WHR plant meets approximately 34 percent of the total power requirement of the facility, replacing the equivalent electricity generation that would otherwise have been provided by the diesel generator sets. The annual HFO saving is approximately 37,200 tons per year. The annual CO2 reduction attributable to the WHR system is approximately 145,000 tons per year, by replacing diesel-generated electricity with clean power recovered from waste heat that would otherwise have been released into the atmosphere through the kiln preheater stacks and cooler exhaust.

To put this in context: at a carbon intensity of roughly 3.17 tons of CO2 per ton of HFO combusted, saving 37,200 tons of HFO annually represents a direct emissions reduction of that magnitude, achieved without any reduction in clinker production volume. It is pure efficiency gain, extracted from an energy stream that the plant was previously discarding. The WHR investment defines precisely what decoupling production growth from carbon intensity looks like in practice at cement plant scale.

Blended Cement Since 2012

A Decade of Green Product Leadership

While much of the Saudi cement sector has been discovering blended cement and SCM substitution as a sustainability imperative in recent years, NCC has been doing it since 2012. For more than a decade, the company has systematically substituted clinker with supplementary cementitious materials, specifically limestone and natural pozzolana, across substitution rates ranging from 10 to 30 percent depending on the product type.

The product range built on this platform includes Lyasa Cement, Pozzolanic Portland Cement (PPC), Lyasa Plus Cement, and Turbo Cement. Each product in this portfolio delivers a measurable reduction in carbon footprint relative to OPC, because every percentage point of clinker replaced by SCMs eliminates the process CO2 that would have been generated during clinker production. At the higher end of the substitution range, this represents a clinker factor of 70 percent, which is among the more aggressive substitution positions being achieved commercially in the Saudi market.

The significance of NCC’s twelve-year commitment to blended cement production is not just the environmental benefit, though that benefit is real and accumulating. It is the operational and quality management learning that a decade of blended cement production generates. Consistent quality across a product range with 10 to 30 percent SCM substitution requires precise raw material characterization, careful mix design, rigorous testing, and mature process control. NCC has that expertise embedded in its quality and production systems in a way that cannot be replicated quickly by producers who are only now beginning their blended cement journey.

Operational Excellence

Fan Replacement and the Compound Effect

NCC’s success stories document highlights a specific operational improvement that illustrates how targeted engineering investments compound their benefits across multiple performance dimensions simultaneously. The replacement of three major process fans in the pyro-processing section of Line 1 increased clinker production by 6 percent on a sustained basis.

The significance of this achievement extends beyond the production volume increase itself. When a kiln line produces 6 percent more clinker per unit of time with the same thermal and electrical energy inputs, the specific energy consumption per ton of clinker falls by approximately the same proportion. Lower specific heat consumption (SHC) directly reduces the carbon intensity of clinker production, because less fuel is burned per ton of clinker produced. Lower specific power consumption (SPC) reduces the electrical energy demand per ton, which reduces the load on the WHR system and the diesel generators, further compounding the carbon benefit.

The fan replacement is a representative example of a class of operational improvement that is often undervalued in sector-level sustainability discussions: targeted, evidence-based equipment optimization that delivers sustained improvements in energy efficiency and carbon intensity without requiring major capital programs or new technology deployments. NCC’s shop floor engineering team identified a constraint in the pyro-processing airflow system, addressed it with precision, and captured a compounding set of benefits. This is operational excellence as a sustainability tool.

NCC’s roadmap includes the planned upgrade of its Distributed Control Systems (DCS) with integration of Expert Optimizer software, which will bring AI-driven automated process optimization to the kiln lines. The Expert Optimizer system at NCC is already installed for kiln operation but is engaged selectively during stable operating conditions. The planned upgrade will extend its active deployment, delivering continuous process optimization, further reductions in specific energy consumption, and improved kiln reliability.

Digital Transformation

The Wasel Ecosystem and Oracle Integration

NCC’s digital transformation agenda is built on two parallel tracks: the enterprise IT layer centered on Oracle R20 ERP, and the customer-facing digital infrastructure anchored by the Wasel integrated digital system.

The Oracle R20 implementation covers financials, inventory management, payroll, sales and distribution, with real-time integration to external systems including Al Rajhi Bank for automated account reconciliation. The production operations are instrumented from the Central Control Room using ABB Distributed Control Systems covering the full production process from the crusher through to the final product silos. Automatic sampling systems transport samples from the field to the laboratory through pneumatic tubes. Near-infrared (NIR) analyzers measure raw material composition in real time. Weigh bridges and dispatch operations are automated and integrated with the ERP.

The SIRI assessment places NCC at Band 3 (Integrated) on Enterprise Automation and Enterprise Intelligence, recognizing that Oracle R20 provides fully automated enterprise processes with diagnostic capability, including automatic notifications with dynamic data fields that identify the root cause of operational deviations. The Central Control Room integration with DCS provides Band 3 (Interoperable and Secure) Shop Floor Connectivity, and the power management system achieves Band 3 (Diagnostic) Facility Intelligence.

On the customer-facing layer, NCC launched Wasel in 2024: the first B2B cement sales and delivery mobile application in the Saudi cement industry. Wasel is not a simple ordering interface. It is an integrated digital infrastructure connecting NCC’s customers, the Oracle ERP, a vehicle tracking system, and the Public Transport Authority’s waybill issuance system through a unified platform. Customers can order any of NCC’s cement products 24 hours a day, seven days a week, schedule future orders, track their orders from dispatch to delivery in real time, and authenticate digital proof of delivery. The development of Wasel began in late 2023 and all modules were successfully completed and integrated with supporting systems in 2024.

Underpinning the Wasel system is NCC’s own transport subsidiary: Wasl Al-Janoub Land Transport Company, established in 2020. This vertical integration of the delivery function, connecting production output directly to customer site through a company-owned fleet managed by a company-built digital system, gives NCC a level of control over customer service quality, delivery reliability, and logistics cost that purely commercial freight arrangements cannot match. The Wasel digital infrastructure sitting on top of this fleet creates a customer experience that is, by the company’s own description, unique in the Saudi cement sector.

SIRI Assessment

An Honest Starting Point

The SIRI assessment conducted for NCC produced an overall score of approximately 1.99, reflecting an organization that is operating with solid digital foundations but has well-defined dimensions where further maturity investment will unlock the next level of performance. The assessor’s comments are candid and constructive: to move from digital operations to integrated operations, NCC needs to formalize Production Planning and Scheduling, Quality Management, and Enterprise Asset Management within the digital ecosystem. When these processes are digitalized, the production PDCA cycle becomes transparent to all departments, improving market responsiveness and asset utilization.

The assessor’s recommendation to develop a production data historian with connectivity to enterprise analytics solutions is particularly significant. NCC’s current DCS infrastructure generates continuous process data, but that data is not yet systematically pooled into a central repository for historical analysis and automated root cause identification. Building that capability would enable the kind of predictive and diagnostic intelligence that the assessor identifies as the highest-value improvement available to the company in the next phase of its digital journey.

Importantly, NCC provided detailed and well-reasoned rebuttals to several assessor scores, arguing, for example, that the Oracle-based inventory and production status visibility that managers have access to justifies a Band 3 rating for Vertical Integration rather than Band 2. These rebuttals reflect an organization that understands its own systems carefully and engages with the assessment process as a genuine improvement tool rather than a box-checking exercise.

What This Means for the Sector

From FCI’s perspective, NCC’s sustainability profile demonstrates something the sector needs to understand clearly: the compounding value of sustained, early commitment. The WHR system commissioned in 2013 has now been reducing CO2 by 145,000 tons per year for well over a decade. The blended cement production program running since 2012 has built quality management depth that cannot be replicated overnight. The Wasel platform, built on a decade of Oracle ERP experience, represents a digital customer service capability that raises the competitive bar for the entire sector.

NCC does not describe itself as the largest or fastest-growing cement company in the Kingdom. It describes itself as committed to excellence, continuous improvement, and environmental protection. That posture, maintained over years through specific investments with specific measured results, is precisely the kind of industrial leadership that creates durable competitive advantage and lasting environmental impact. The next chapter, upgrading DCS systems with Expert Optimizer integration and building the Industry 4.0 roadmap the SIRI assessment recommends, will extend that advantage further.

 

Northern Region Cement Company

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Northern Region Cement Company

Innovation, Green Products, and Digital Intelligence from Saudi Arabia’s North

A Company That Innovates Its Way Toward Sustainability

Northern Region Cement Company (NRC) was founded in 2006 and operates from its facility in the northern border area of Saudi Arabia, producing both grey and white cement across two production lines with a combined grey clinker capacity that has been expanded to include 6,000 tons per day of grey cement and 1,500 tons per day of white cement. That dual production capability, rare among Saudi cement producers, gives NRC a distinctive product portfolio that serves both standard construction markets and the more specialized architectural and finishing segments that require white cement.

What distinguishes NRC’s sustainability story is not any single project but the combination of product innovation, process engineering, digital transformation, and renewable energy investment that the company has pursued in parallel. The result is a producer that is simultaneously reducing its carbon intensity per ton of cement, improving its energy efficiency relative to SEEC targets, building intelligent manufacturing capabilities, and committing capital to clean energy infrastructure.

Green Product Innovation: Three Pathways to Lower Carbon

The most technically substantive dimension of NRC’s sustainability agenda is its development of multiple low-carbon cement product lines, each targeting a different substitution chemistry and end-use application. This product diversification strategy is significant because different construction applications have different performance requirements, and a company that can offer verified low-carbon options across a range of technical specifications has a broader commercial opportunity than one that offers a single green product.

The first pathway is Pozzolanic Portland Cement (PPC), where NRC incorporates natural pozzolanic materials as a partial clinker substitute at substitution rates reaching 35 percent. PPC is characterized by low permeability, high durability, and resistance to sulfates and chlorides, making it the preferred specification for foundations, sewage storage tanks, and marine and saltwater applications. It produces high-durability, long-life concrete while generating meaningfully lower CO2 intensity than OPC, and it carries Saudi quality certification. From an environmental perspective, using one ton of pozzolan as a clinker substitute reduces approximately 350 kilograms of CO2 per ton of cement produced while simultaneously improving concrete performance in aggressive environments.

The second pathway is LC3 cement (Limestone Calcined Clay Cement), where a mixture of calcined clay and limestone is used as a partial clinker substitute with substitution rates reaching 50 percent. LC3 targets a CO2 reduction of up to 40 percent compared to conventional Portland cement, placing it among the most aggressive decarbonization technologies currently available in the sector. NRC’s LC3 product meets the performance requirements of Cem II/B LL 32.5 N standard, with compressive strength and durability comparable to or better than conventional equivalent products. The ability to offer LC3 at commercial scale reflects genuine process and quality management capability, since the consistency of calcined clay chemistry requires precise control of raw material sourcing and processing conditions.

The third pathway is white limestone cement (Cem II/B LL 35.5), which uses limestone as a partial clinker substitute at rates reaching 35 percent. The bright white color of this product makes it ideal for finishing, decorative, and aesthetic applications where appearance is a primary specification requirement. It combines high quality, strength, and stability with an eco-friendly and economical production profile, targeting a segment of the construction market that has historically had very limited access to lower-carbon options.

Reinforcing these product innovations is a proprietary technology achievement: NRC holds Patent SA10181, awarded by the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property in June 2022, for the conversion of the white cement production line from black to white cement. This patent reflects NRC’s technical depth in white cement manufacturing, specifically the engineering of a production line capable of switching between black and white clinker production, which requires precise chemistry control, specialized kiln management, and advanced quality monitoring to achieve the whiteness index required for certified white cement products.

Process Engineering: Kiln Jacket Heat Recovery

One of the more creative process engineering innovations documented in NRC’s success stories is the Kiln Jacket Heat Recovery system. The concept involves drawing hot air from the kiln jacket, the space between the kiln shell and the outer casing in the combustion zone, where temperatures in normal operation reach 135 degrees Celsius during white clinker production. This captured thermal energy, which would otherwise be dissipated as waste heat, is redirected as pre-heated combustion air into the kiln firing system.

The practical impact is measurable. By using hot air at 135 degrees Celsius rather than ambient combustion air at approximately 40 degrees Celsius, the kiln requires less heavy fuel oil (HFO) to reach and maintain the combustion temperatures required for clinker formation. The calculated saving based on the thermal energy provided per operating day translates to approximately 186 grams of HFO per kilowatt-hour of equivalent thermal energy, reducing both fuel cost and the CO2 and NOx emissions associated with HFO combustion. For a white cement kiln operating continuously, this is a meaningful improvement in both the economic and environmental profile of production.

The innovation demonstrates an important principle: in cement manufacturing, significant efficiency and emissions improvements are often available through intelligent engineering of existing equipment rather than wholesale replacement of production lines. NRC’s kiln jacket heat recovery is exactly this kind of solution, engineering a productive use out of an energy stream that was previously lost.

SEEC Performance

Meeting the Target

NRC’s 2024 SEEC (Saudi Energy Efficiency Center) performance card confirms that the company met its annual energy efficiency requirements for the second cycle. With two production lines reporting under the framework, the grey cement kiln (Kiln-1) achieved electrical efficiency of 109.1 kWh per ton of cement against a target of 111.5 kWh per ton, comfortably within compliance. Kiln-1’s thermal efficiency reached 3.24 MMBTU per ton of clinker against a target of 3.26 MMBTU per ton, also meeting the standard. Kiln-2 produced white cement in 2024, which is excluded from the SEEC scope as white cement has a distinct thermal profile from grey cement production.

The overall SEEC status was “Meet” for the grey cement line, with a near-zero gap in energy consumption against the compliance boundary. The company’s ranking of 10th out of 19 facilities assessed on electrical efficiency, and 22nd out of 38 on thermal efficiency, reflects a mid-tier performance position nationally that contains both confirmation of compliance and opportunity for further improvement in the next cycle. SEEC’s recommendation to explore energy efficiency projects, whether through operational excellence or capital investment, aligns with the investments NRC is already making, including the solar project described below.

Digital Transformation

SAP, SIMATIC, and Remote Monitoring

NRC’s digital transformation program is structured around three interconnected layers: enterprise resource planning, industrial automation, and remote equipment monitoring, each addressing a distinct dimension of the production management challenge.

At the enterprise layer, NRC has implemented SAP cloud solutions including SAP Ariba for procurement and supply chain management. The SAP Ariba deployment automates the full procure-to-pay cycle, from purchase requisitions through to payment, connecting the company digitally with suppliers through the SAP Business Network. The specific capabilities deployed include automated sourcing with AI-assisted supplier identification and evaluation, contract management with electronic approval workflows, and full spend transparency from purchase order to payment confirmation. The implementation includes direct bank integration, enabling automated payment processing and reducing manual financial reconciliation work. This procurement digitization reduces costs through better spend visibility, improves supplier risk management through structured contract governance, and provides the data foundation required for local content tracking and reporting.

At the industrial automation layer, NRC has deployed Siemens SIMATIC TIA Portal, a globally leading industrial automation platform that provides integrated control of production equipment through programmable logic controllers (PLCs), advanced HMI screens for process monitoring, and real-time transmission of monitored data including pressure, temperature, gas flows, and emissions rates at high speed. This system provides the operational technology backbone for intelligent kiln and mill management, enabling faster process corrections and supporting the measurement and verification requirements of the SEEC energy efficiency framework.

At the equipment monitoring layer, NRC has built a remote monitoring system covering all production equipment at the plant, providing responsible personnel with real-time visibility into machine status, shutdown events, the causes of those shutdowns, and automatic alerts when monitored parameters deviate from pre-defined normal ranges. This system enables the predictive maintenance strategies that reduce unplanned downtime, extend equipment life, and improve production continuity. When combined with the Spectra Flow analytics system, which provides real-time chemical analysis of incoming raw materials and automatic adjustment of raw mix proportions to maintain target LSF, SM, and AM chemistry parameters at the mill outlet, the monitoring infrastructure creates a closed-loop quality control system that reduces kiln stoppages, improves clinker consistency, and raises cement quality simultaneously.

Renewable Energy

The 20 MW Solar Commitment

NRC awarded an SAR 32.63 million (USD 8.7 million) Engineering, Procurement, and Construction contract to Sinoma for the development of a 20 megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant at its facility. Sinoma’s scope covers full engineering, procurement, delivery, installation, civil works, trial operation, and commissioning.

A 20 MW solar plant at an industrial facility of NRC’s scale represents a material contribution to its Scope 2 emissions reduction agenda. The northern region of Saudi Arabia receives strong solar irradiation throughout the year, making photovoltaic generation particularly well-suited to the location. The clean electricity generated will directly offset grid electricity consumption at the plant, reducing the CO2 intensity of the electrical energy input to production and lowering operating costs per ton of cement. Combined with the thermal efficiency improvements from the Kiln Jacket Heat Recovery system and the process optimization enabled by the SIMATIC and Spectra Flow systems, the solar investment contributes to a structurally lower energy cost and emissions profile.

What This Means for the Sector

From FCI’s perspective, NRC’s sustainability story has a specific characteristic that makes it particularly valuable as a sector reference: the breadth of simultaneous innovation across product design, process engineering, digital systems, and renewable energy. Most companies in the sector lead with one or two of these dimensions. NRC is working on all four together, which means the interactions between them are being explored in practice rather than in theory.

The patent for white-to-black clinker line conversion, the LC3 product development, the kiln jacket heat recovery, the SAP Ariba and SIMATIC deployments, and the solar investment are not isolated initiatives. They are components of a coherent industrial strategy that treats NRC’s northern location, its dual grey and white cement production capability, and its digital infrastructure as complementary assets in a sustainable, competitive operating model.

The SEEC compliance record confirms that the strategy is delivering measurable energy efficiency results today. The investments under execution confirm that the trajectory points toward deeper improvement in the cycles ahead.

United Cement Industrial Company

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United Cement Industrial Company

Leading the Green Cement Transition in Saudi Arabia’s Western Region

A Company Built for the Transition

United Cement Industrial Company (UCIC) was established in 2013 and began production in 2016 from its state-of-the-art facility in Al-Sadiya, Makkah Province, situated along the Laith Old Road in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia. In less than a decade of operations, the company has built a total production base of approximately 15 million tons by end of 2024, established an 18 to 20 percent market share in the western region, and positioned itself as the leading producer of green cement in the Kingdom. That last claim is not marketing language. It is a production reality: over 40 percent of UCIC’s output is green cement, giving the company a product portfolio that is structurally aligned with where the Saudi construction market is heading, rather than where it has been.

This article examines how UCIC has built that position, and what it means for the broader sector.

Green Cement Leadership

A Strategic Production Choice

UCIC produces four cement types: Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), Pozzolanic Portland Cement (PPC), Sulfate-Resistant Cement (SRC), and a finishing cement (Taameer). The SIRI certificate issued in December 2025 covers all six product variants across both bulk and bagged formats, confirming that the company’s digital and quality management systems apply consistently across its full product range.

The commitment to green cement, with over 40 percent of total production dedicated to lower-carbon PPC and finishing cement variants, is not an aspirational statement. It is the current production reality of the plant. PPC achieves its lower carbon intensity by replacing a portion of clinker with pozzolanic materials, thereby reducing both the thermal energy demand and the process CO2 associated with clinker production. At a scale of 2 million tons per year of installed capacity, with cumulative production already exceeding 15 million tons, UCIC’s green cement output represents a meaningful contribution to the decarbonization of the construction materials supply chain serving Jeddah, Makkah, and the broader western and southern regions.

The company has also pursued operational improvements that reduce emissions across the production chain through lower dependence on high-carbon materials, substitution with more efficient industrial alternatives, and continuous process refinement in kiln operations and thermal management. UCIC’s kiln systems and thermal processing operations incorporate advanced combustion optimization technologies that reduce specific fuel consumption while maintaining high clinker quality, delivering simultaneous gains in cost efficiency and emissions intensity.
One of the more distinctive dimensions of UCIC’s environmental program is its leadership in plastic cement bag innovation. The company has been among the pioneers in the Kingdom in adopting innovative approaches to polypropylene cement bag design and material science, reducing the environmental footprint of packaging and improving the life-cycle assessment profile of its products. In an industry where packaging waste is a persistent environmental challenge at distribution points, this focus on downstream sustainability signals a breadth of environmental thinking that extends beyond the kiln to the customer interface.

The company has complemented these production-level initiatives with an afforestation program around its industrial site, improving local air quality and enhancing the environmental profile of the facility’s immediate surroundings. These green belt investments reflect an understanding that industrial sustainability is not limited to emissions from the stack. It encompasses the full environmental context of the plant’s operation within its community.

Renewable Energy

The Tarshid Solar Partnership

A particularly significant development in UCIC’s sustainability agenda is the formal agreement signed with Tarshid, the Saudi National Energy Services Company, for the development of a solar energy project at UCIC’s Al-Lith Governorate facility. Under this agreement, Tarshid will develop and implement renewable energy solutions designed to reduce the plant’s reliance on grid electricity and fossil-based power inputs, directly reducing Scope 2 emissions and lowering the overall energy cost per ton of cement produced.

This partnership is strategically important for two reasons. First, it connects UCIC to the national energy efficiency and renewable energy infrastructure that Vision 2030 is building, positioning the company as an active participant in the Kingdom’s energy transition rather than a passive beneficiary. Second, it establishes a repeatable model. A solar energy project successfully implemented at one facility creates the template, the operational experience, and the financial case for extension to other parts of the plant or to future capacity expansions.

The solar project also aligns directly with UCIC’s broader strategic intention: to be recognized as a role model in green cement production, specifically by demonstrating that the transition to renewable energy inputs is technically and commercially viable in the operating context of a cement plant in the western region of Saudi Arabia.

Digital Transformation

SIRI Certification and the Smart Factory Model

UCIC received its official SIRI (Smart Industry Readiness Index) certification in December 2025, with an emblem score of 2.82 across a scope covering all six of its cement product variants. The certification was issued by the International Centre for Industrial Transformation (INCIT) and is valid for two years, subject to ongoing assessment against the 16 dimensions of the SIRI framework spanning process, technology, and organization.

A SIRI score of 2.82 reflects a plant that has moved beyond basic digitization and is operating with integrated digital systems capable of data-driven decision making, with a clear transformation roadmap toward more advanced automation and intelligence capabilities. For a company that only began production in 2016, achieving this level of digital maturity within less than a decade of operations reflects an organizational culture that has treated technology investment as a strategic priority from the beginning rather than a legacy system retrofit.

The digital transformation program at UCIC has delivered a manufacturing environment where operational data flows in real time to support process decisions, where administrative and commercial workflows are automated to reduce manual processing time and error rates, and where management visibility into plant performance is continuous rather than periodic. This infrastructure raises operational efficiency, reduces waste in both energy and materials consumption, and provides the data foundation required for the predictive maintenance and process optimization programs that deliver the next tier of performance improvement.

UCIC’s digital journey also demonstrates the compounding relationship between digital capability and sustainability outcomes. A plant with accurate, real-time energy consumption data can optimize combustion parameters more precisely. A plant with predictive maintenance intelligence reduces unplanned stoppages that generate energy waste and quality variance during restart cycles. Digital capability and environmental performance are not parallel tracks. At UCIC, they are the same track.

Operational Excellence

Energy, Maintenance, and Circular Economy

UCIC has achieved leading performance on specific electrical energy consumption for its product range, positioning itself among the most energy-efficient cement producers in the western region. This performance reflects the deployment of advanced kiln and grinding system technologies, combined with the operational discipline that comes from a relatively young plant managed with modern industrial standards from the outset.

The maintenance strategy deployed at UCIC has delivered a meaningful reduction in unplanned stoppages and improved production continuity. Advanced maintenance approaches, supported by condition monitoring and predictive analytics, have lowered failure rates, extended equipment service life, and reduced the cost and production impact of maintenance interventions. The result is a more reliable and predictable production operation, which benefits both cost efficiency and the consistency of product quality delivered to customers.

The circular economy principles applied within UCIC’s operations extend the sustainability logic beyond emissions reduction to resource utilization. Where industrial by-products can be reintegrated into the production process, the company pursues those pathways, converting potential waste streams into productive inputs. This approach simultaneously reduces raw material demand, lowers disposal costs, and improves the overall resource efficiency of the plant.

Saudization and Local Content

Sustained Platinum Performance

UCIC has maintained Platinum tier classification under the Nitaqat Saudization program since its establishment, a record of sustained commitment to national workforce development that is particularly noteworthy given the company’s young operational age. Maintaining Platinum status from the outset, rather than achieving it after years of incremental improvement, reflects an organizational design decision that embedded localization as a foundational principle rather than a compliance target.

Local procurement has exceeded 80 percent of total purchases, reinforcing the domestic supply chain and contributing to the national economy’s industrial development objectives. This level of local content is above the sector average and reflects deliberate supply chain management decisions that favor domestic suppliers where quality and delivery standards are met.

The combination of Platinum Saudization and high local content positions UCIC as a company whose contribution to Vision 2030’s economic diversification and human capital development objectives extends well beyond its product range. The western region’s cement market is one of the most strategically important in the Kingdom, serving Jeddah, Makkah, and the entire Hajj and Umrah infrastructure. UCIC’s investment in national talent and domestic supply chains strengthens the economic resilience of that market.

Strategic Position

The Golden Years Ahead

UCIC’s CEO Mohammed Almatrafi has articulated a clear demand outlook: the period ahead represents the “golden years” for the Saudi cement sector. The 2034 FIFA World Cup, Expo 2030, Central Jeddah development, the Red Sea Project, NEOM, and Qiddiya are all driving sustained construction demand in the regions that UCIC serves. With a market share of 18 to 20 percent in the western region, a product portfolio already heavily weighted toward green cement, a certified digital maturity framework, and a solar energy program underway, UCIC is positioned to capitalize on that demand from a platform of operational and environmental leadership.

From FCI’s perspective, what UCIC demonstrates is that a well-designed industrial strategy, executed consistently from the first day of operations, can compress the transformation timeline significantly. UCIC did not spend its first decade operating a conventional cement plant and then launch a sustainability program. It launched with a sustainability orientation built into its production model and has been refining and extending that model ever since.

The result is a company that is, by several meaningful measures, among the most advanced green cement producers in the Kingdom today, and one that is investing systematically in the capabilities that will sustain that position as the market’s expectations continue to rise.

 

Southern Province Cement Company

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Southern Province Cement Company

Redefining Industrial Leadership Across Three Plants in Saudi Arabia’s South

A Multi-Site Transformation at Regional Scale

Southern Province Cement Company (SPCC) operates at a scale and geographic complexity that distinguishes it from most producers in the Kingdom. With three production facilities spanning Jazan on the Red Sea coast, Bisha in the heart of the Asir highlands, and Tihama in the coastal lowlands, the company manages one of the most geographically dispersed cement operations in Saudi Arabia. Combined clinker production capacity across the three plants exceeds 8.7 million tons per year. In 2024, total clinker production reached approximately 6.3 million tons, delivered against a backdrop of sector-wide demand softness and intensifying competition.

What makes SPCC’s story significant for the sector is not scale alone. It is the coherence and ambition of the transformation agenda being executed across all three facilities simultaneously: a five-year strategy approved in August 2023 covering operational excellence, digital transformation, decarbonization, and local content development, structured around the requirements of Saudi Vision 2030 and the Kingdom’s net-zero commitment by 2060.

The Decarbonization Agenda

From Product to Process

SPCC’s approach to carbon reduction addresses the problem at both the product and process levels, which is the right sequencing for a company at this stage of transition.

On the product side, the company has commenced production of Green Cement (GU Cement and PPC), both of which carry the Saudi Quality Mark and reduce carbon intensity through lower clinker ratios. More significantly, the company has developed a low-carbon cement variant (3LC) by reducing clinker content to 61.5 percent, one of the most aggressive clinker substitution ratios currently being produced at commercial scale in the Kingdom. The company has also set a specific and time-bound target: a 25 percent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2028, aligned with international environmental benchmarks and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 carbon commitments.

Supporting the transition on the product side is the establishment of a Green Footprint Committee, chaired by the Executive Vice President of Operations. This committee oversees a comprehensive afforestation strategy with a plan to plant 500,000 trees between 2025 and 2030, beginning in 2025 as part of the company’s commitment to carbon offsetting and environmental rehabilitation across its operational regions.

On the process side, SPCC is executing a structured program to replace liquid fuel with natural gas across the Jazan and Tihama facilities by 2028, eliminating heavy fuel oil from those plants entirely. This is not an incremental adjustment. It is a fundamental shift in the thermal energy model of two major production facilities. The company has also initiated studies on alternative fuel utilization including refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and complementary solutions, and has commissioned a Product Life Cycle Assessment to measure carbon emissions at every production stage, which will underpin the company’s planned Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) certification program.

The Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) system at the Jazan plant is already operational, capturing thermal energy from kiln exhaust and converting it into usable electricity, with capacity of 15 MW. Studies are underway to extend WHR implementation to the Bisha and Tihama plants, which would deliver significant energy cost and emissions reductions across the full operational footprint. The company is also developing solar energy projects at its facilities and is exploring concentrated solar power (CSP) solutions in collaboration with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, with the long-term objective of reducing fossil fuel dependency across all three sites.

Digital Transformation

The SIRI Second Assessment

SPCC’s digital transformation journey is documented through two formal SIRI assessments, conducted under the Smart Industry Readiness Index framework. The second assessment, completed in 2025, evaluated all three plants independently and found that each had achieved digital performance results above the first assessment baseline, reflecting genuine progress across the transformation dimensions rather than isolated gains at a single facility.

The digital roadmap is structured around six priority dimensions: vertical integration, horizontal integration, shop floor automation, shop floor intelligence, enterprise intelligence, and facility intelligence. Each dimension has defined transformation initiatives with specific expected use cases, and together they constitute a comprehensive upgrade of how the three plants operate, communicate, and make decisions.

The most significant technology implementation is the deployment of SAP S/4HANA as the enterprise resource planning backbone, replacing the legacy SAP ECC6 system. This is more than a software upgrade. SAP S/4HANA enables real-time operational data visibility, automated production confirmation, live inventory tracking for semi-finished and finished products, actual production cost calculation, and maintenance alerts triggered automatically when process deviations are detected. The integration of the plant control system (FLS ECS) directly with SAP S/4HANA means that production data flows seamlessly from the kiln floor to the enterprise management layer without manual intervention, creating the information infrastructure required for data-driven operations management.

Vertical integration extends further through SAP Analytics Cloud for interactive management dashboards, SAP Ariba for digital procurement and invoice management with direct bank integration, and a digital document management system with QR code-enabled electronic document tracking. These components collectively transform the company’s administrative and commercial operations alongside the plant-level improvements.

On the shop floor, the automation roadmap targets the expansion of the Autopilot system, including machine learning-based process optimization and AI-powered predictive maintenance. Condition monitoring sensors are being installed across critical assets at all three facilities to enable predictive maintenance strategies that catch equipment degradation before it translates into unplanned stoppages. Root Cause Analysis systems are being deployed to build a centralized database of recurring problems and their verified root causes, enabling pattern recognition and faster resolution over time. The horizontal integration workstream is connecting the company’s systems digitally with key suppliers and customers, reducing manual paperwork, improving order processing speed, and enabling real-time supply chain visibility.

Cement mill productivity has already improved toward 8 to 10 percent above previous levels at the Jazan plant, and production line improvements at the Bisha and Tihama facilities are contributing to enhanced energy efficiency and reduced emissions intensity. The Jazan plant’s actual production in 2024 represented 106.77 percent of its design capacity, a clear indicator of the operational gains being achieved through this combined technology and process improvement program.

Circular Economy and Industrial Partnership

One of the most strategically forward-looking initiatives in SPCC’s 2024 program is the tripartite industrial partnership signed with the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, represented by Jazan City for Primary and Downstream Industries, and Solb Steel Company. The agreement was signed under the patronage of the Chairman of the Royal Commission, with senior representation from the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources.

The partnership is designed to transform industrial by-products from Solb Steel, specifically steel slag, into supplementary cementitious materials that can be incorporated into SPCC’s cement products. This is a textbook circular economy application: a material that was previously a waste cost for the steel plant becomes a carbon-reducing input for the cement plant, lowering the clinker factor in SPCC’s products while simultaneously reducing industrial waste disposal volumes in the Jazan industrial zone.

The collaboration areas extend beyond slag utilization to include data and analytics exchange for production efficiency, joint development of eco-friendly production solutions, and coordination of logistical and storage services within the industrial city through the port. For SPCC, this partnership is strategically significant on two dimensions. First, it provides a locally sourced, cost-competitive supplementary cementitious material to support the clinker ratio reduction targets embedded in the green cement roadmap. Second, it positions SPCC as a collaborative industrial partner within the Jazan industrial ecosystem, reinforcing the company’s regional leadership role beyond the cement sector.

Governance and Local Content

Building the Institutional Base

SPCC’s transformation is supported by a governance infrastructure that is being strengthened in parallel with the operational and digital agenda. In 2024, the company obtained ISO 37000 certification for corporate governance and ISO 31000 certification for risk management, placing it among a small number of Saudi industrial companies to hold formal accreditation against both governance and risk management international standards. These certifications are not procedural achievements. They reflect the implementation of an integrated framework covering internal policies, codes of conduct, anti-corruption and whistleblowing mechanisms, authority matrices, and risk registers that are reviewed quarterly and linked to strategic performance indicators.

The risk management program is comprehensive and structured. The company deploys Risk Matrix analysis, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), and Bowtie Analysis for preventive scenario planning. A phased Cybersecurity Executive Program is underway through 2027, covering infrastructure hardening, business continuity systems, SCADA security, and ultimately a Zero Trust architecture supported by AI-based digital forensics tools.

On local content, SPCC holds a Local Content Certificate at 48.87 percent as its first-phase achievement, with a strategic target of 60 percent set in alignment with Public Investment Fund objectives. In 2024, 125 of 159 newly registered suppliers were local, and the SAP Ariba system has been activated for digital procurement management, improving transparency and processing speed across the supply chain.

The Saudization rate reached 59.69 percent in 2024, with 657 employees completing specialized training programs totaling 14,627.5 hours, averaging 22 hours per employee. In occupational health and safety, the company recorded a dramatic improvement in performance: the Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate fell from 7.4 in 2023 to 1.9 in 2024, and actual incidents at all factories dropped from 10 to 5. Emergency and evacuation plans achieved 100 percent implementation in collaboration with Civil Defense, and an advanced electronic incident reporting system was activated, reducing risk handling response time and near-miss incident rates.

The New Jazan Production Line

Investing in the Next Generation

The Board of Directors has approved a new production line at the Jazan facility, with a design capacity of 5,000 tons of clinker per day, incorporating the latest cement manufacturing technologies with a specific focus on energy efficiency and carbon emission reduction. Commercial operation is targeted for Q1 2026. This investment reflects SPCC’s confidence in the long-term demand trajectory of the Jazan and southern Red Sea region market, supported by Vision 2030 infrastructure programs and the expanding industrial base in the Jazan Economic City. Financed through a ten-year Islamic financing facility from the National Commercial Bank at SAR 649 million, the new line will position SPCC’s Jazan plant as the most modern and energy-efficient facility in its operational portfolio.

What This Means for the Sector

From FCI’s perspective, SPCC represents the challenge and the opportunity of executing a multi-plant transformation at regional scale. The company does not have the luxury of concentrating its transformation investment in a single showcase facility. Everything it does must work across three plants, in three different geographic contexts, with three different production profiles and infrastructure starting points.

The fact that all three plants achieved improved digital maturity scores in the second SIRI assessment, rather than a single plant pulling ahead of the others, is the most important signal in SPCC’s transformation story. It means the program is being implemented as a system rather than as a pilot. Combined with the governance certifications, the industrial partnership model with Solb Steel, the green cement product development, and the fuel transition roadmap, SPCC is building the foundation for a genuinely low-carbon, digitally capable multi-plant operation that will serve the southern and southwestern regions of Saudi Arabia for the next generation.

The scale of what is being attempted is matched by the clarity of the roadmap being used to attempt it.