Yanbu Cement Company

YCC believes that the cement industry’s performance is directly linked to Saudi Arabia’s prosperity. We are very confident in Vision 2030’s initiatives and its efforts to develop outstanding infrastructure and improve the economy.” Alayed explains. “Additionally, the Saudi Exchange high profile has helped us attract investors, which has consequently improved ROI and our stock value.

Looking toward the future, sustainability will be a core part of Yanbu’s business. The company is a member of the Elite EP100 Group, which highlights its energy efficiency programs and efforts to reduce CO2 production to enhance community contribution toward a green environment. Yanbu Cement has acquired a 34 MW waste heat recovery (WHR) system as a step toward renewable/alternative energy sources. It is one of the largest of its kind at a cement plant in the world. Carbon emissions at the plant reduced by more than 100,000t/yr. ~ 25% of energy requirement covered by the WHR system.

YCC looks to continue leading the regional sector in AI and Industry 4.0, and is working to develop and adopt AI in its industrial assets. “YCC views technology as an opportunity, rather than a threat,” says Alayed. “We are on the verge of applying an advanced AI solution to our main operating equipment, and we’ll be the first company in the region to do so.”

In 2019, Yanbu Cement Company (YCC) was named Cement Plant of the Year by the International Cement Review in recognition of its industrial excellence. The company produces five types of cement, with a capacity of eight million tons annually.

With a head office in Jeddah, YCC also has an industrial unit in Ras Beridi, Yanbu, consisting of two production lines and 11 cement mills with a total dispatch capacity of 40,000 tons of cement per day. The plant also has a state-of-the-art living complex – with two fully equipped sports facilities – for up to 3,000 inhabitants.

YCC is one of the few cement companies in the world to achieve a high percentage of Industry 4.0 goals. It is also developing an artificial intelligence (AI) program, which is only possible thanks to the company’s high levels of existing automation.

While YCC is making significant progress toward the digitalization goals outlined in Vision 2030 – including automation, expert control, cloud technology, and AI – it is meeting Vision 2030 objectives in other ways too. The company “thinks global and acts local” by employing a workforce consisting of 46% Saudi nationals (versus 30% in 2016). It also has the highest number of Saudi engineers (40) in the sector.

As it looks to the future, YCC is focused on maintaining its progress when it comes to managing manpower and sustainability. Over the past three years, YCC has increased human capital productivity from 17 tons per day per employee to 23 tons per day. It has also been recognized as one of the most energy-efficient plants in Saudi Arabia by the Saudi Energy Efficiency Center and by The Climate Group – as part of the Group’s EP100 initiative – for its achievements in energy management and reduction of CO2 emissions. The company also owns a major share of the Saudi Kuwaiti Paper plant, which has an annual capacity of a million paper bags.

Modernization and sustainability

Yanbu Cement Company (YCC) has undertaken a series of strategic investments and optimization initiatives to radically modernize its 8 Mta capacity plant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The plant’s management has adopted state-of-the-art technology and advanced cement manufacturing techniques to place the facility on the path toward operational excellence. Meanwhile, the company has achieved a 25 percent reduction in net carbon emissions and annual savingsof more than 100,000t/yr CO2. These efforts led to the ICR award for the Cement Plant of the Year in CEMTEC Berlin, October 2019.

Upgrading and adopting the latest SCADA systems to have more flexibility with process control, more powerful control capabilities, efficient performance monitoring, and excellent reporting capabilities which is one step further toward its digital transformation strategy.

People development

YCC is focused on building a stronger performance culture and developing current and future leaders. The company develops its next generation of leaders by growing its Saudi youth engineer program and other initiatives that support our goal of building a sustainable future. The training programs cover a wide range of topics, including business, financial insights, health & safety, sales, products and solutions, and operations.

FLSmidth - Yanbu Cement Academy

In September 2020, Yanbu Cement partnered with FLSmidth and launched the Cement Knowledge Center, a leading source of cement knowledge and practical training.

The center which can accommodate over 100 trainees, has a unique location on the Red Sea with magnificent views and state-of-the-art recreational facilities, giving the academy a competitive edge. The center offers a mix of short courses, medium range, and long-term programs and certifications.

YCC, in cooperation with FLSmidth, aims to support Saudi Arabia and the rest of the GCC while developing professional cement competency in Levant, North Africa, and sub Saharan countries.

Quality management systems

Yanbu Cement has acquired the total & integrated quality management systems and became certified with several international and national quality certificates (ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, 50001 and SASO mark) through continuous improvement approach to facilitate the efficiency of production processes and to meet the national and international demand and quality standard for the product.

Saudization of YCC’s workforce has increased from 30% in 2016 to 46% in 2020