Two cement firms Arabian Cement Co. and Lafarge have officially begun using coal in energy production, pursuant to the decision of Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Petroleum cut the supply of natural gas to energy-intensive plants, including cement factories, amid worsening fuel crisis.
Khalid Gharib, head of strategies sector, Lafarge, told Aswat Masriya, that his company is currently operating on coal especially after the natural gas supply was completed suspended during the last days.
He added that the drop in gas supplies led to a decrease in production to 5.5 million tons, compared with the plant’s maximum production capacity of 10 million tons.