Barran Press
The Houthi group, internationally recognized as a terrorist organization, has barred the entry of products from the Yemen Arab Cement Company (Hadhramaut and Arabia Cement) into areas under their control, as of Monday, July 15, 2024.
According to a document reviewed by "Barran Press," the Yemeni Authority for Standardization, Metrology and Quality Control, affiliated with the Houthis, instructed branch managers in provinces, checkpoints, and control centers to prevent the entry of the company's products and remove them from the markets.
The Houthi authority's directive stated that the Yemen Arab Cement Company's products (Hadhramaut Cement – Arabia Cement) do not meet the "approved" standards.
The directive alleged that the products contained misleading phrases, coding, and classification incompatible with the labeling, hindering subsequent technical procedures.
It claimed that the product could be "directed towards incorrect construction uses, resulting in economic damage and high risks to public safety."
The Yemeni Standardization Authority's directive in Sana'a added, "It is worth noting that the facility is not subject to the authority's regulatory procedures and systems."
In previous periods, the company had a presence in Sana'a, which is under Houthi control, most recently participating in the third Building and Construction Exhibition in February 2024, organized by the International Exhibition and Conference Meeting in Sana'a.
The Yemen Arab Cement Company is one of the largest Saudi investments in Yemen. Established in October 2004, its factory in Abu Ghraib, Hadhramaut, officially opened in 2009 with an annual production capacity of 1.5 million tons.
The "Yemen Arab Cement" is owned by the Saudi company "Eastern Region Cement" with a 31.6% stake, in addition to businessmen of Yemeni origin, including Mohammed Al-Amoudi, Abdullah Baqshan, Abdullah Bahamdan, Eastern Region Cement, Engineer Abdullah Baqshan, and others.