The Jordan Cement Factories Company (JCFC) reported a 15 percent decline in total sales during 2000 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to Jordan Times.
JCFC Director General Samer Biriqadar was quoted by the paper as saying that the "local sales dropped by 2 percent, while foreign sales fell by 13 percent," noting that the exports to the Palestinian market dwindled by 38 percent during last year, especially in the last quarter when the Al Aqsa Intifada erupted.
The JCFC, which used to export 1,000 tons per day of clinker to Palestine, has estimated its monthly loose, due to rigid Israeli measures, JD300,000, claiming that shipments to the Palestinian market are still moving at a “slow pace.”
In 1998, the French cement giant Lafarge bought a 33.3 per cent stake in the company in what was considered the first major privatization step in the Kingdom. It now owns the lion's share at 43 percent -- Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
