Saturday, Sep 23, 2006
KUWAIT CITY (Zawya Dow Jones)--Kuwait Gypsum Manufacturing & Trading Co plans to construct a new factory that will increase its gypsum powder production by five times, a company official said Saturday.
The company, set for a Kuwaiti bourse listing Sept. 25, will build the factory in early 2007 next to its current Mina Abdullah facility.
"It will push our production capacity to 10,000 33-kg bags every month, from the current 2,000 bags," the company's finance manager, Mohsein Ahmed, told Zawya Dow Jones. He declined to disclose the construction cost.
The current plant is sufficient to cover the requirements of the Kuwaiti market, but Ahmed said the company plans to boost its exports to Bahrain and UAE next year. Its also exports to Jordan and Saudi Arabia, but most of its products are currently targeted for domestic use.
Kuwait Gypsum uses 20% of its powder production to make its main product, gypsum wall board, while the rest is sold to tile factories and marble contractors. The company produces 2.5 million square meters of gypsum boards annually.
Kuwait Gypsum has a capital of 3 million Kuwaiti dinar, and made KWD419,000 net profit last year. For the first six months of the year, the company made KWD264,000, Ahmed said.
-By Sara Ismail, Dow Jones Newswires; +965 9349692; djnews.dubai@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
09-23-06 0941ET
Copyright Zawya Dow Jones Newswires 2006
