Tartus Cement Plant Grinding Mills, Fifteen-Year Operation Contract

Overview

On 22 March 2026 the state General Company for Cement Manufacturing and Marketing, Omran, signed a 15-year investment contract with the UAE company QZ to rehabilitate and operate the grinding mills at the Tartus cement plant. The arrangement imports clinker and grinds it to the Syrian standard specification.

The model

SANA reported that the arrangement modernises the mills without burdening public finances and keeps the asset in state ownership. This is a recurring pattern in the cement sector alongside the Hama cement plant agreement, where operation and investment are contracted out while ownership is retained.

Employment, as projected

SANA reports an expectation of about 300 direct jobs and more than 2,000 indirect ones. These are projections stated at signing, not verified outcomes.

Status

An earlier SANA report of 12 March 2026 described QZ as already advancing mill rehabilitation and development work at the plant, which places the project in execution.

What is not established

The investment value is not specified in the sources, nor are the revenue-sharing terms, the grinding capacity targeted, or the clinker supply arrangements.

Update — 2026-04-20

Actual operation has begun. SANA reported on 20 April 2026 that trial production started at the Tartus cement plant, with one mill currently running in the trial phase. The agency quoted Eng. Bassam Ali, director of the coastal branch of the state company Omran, and Eng. Ahmad Salma, project manager for the UAE company QZ, as saying that about 500 of the plant's workers have returned to work, with an aim of at least 1,000 once upgrading works are complete.

According to the same source, plant output is expected to exceed one million tonnes of cement a year once the upgrade works finish, covering modernisation of the mills and kilns. SANA had reported on 22 March 2026 that the General Company for Cement and Building Materials Industry and Marketing, Omran, signed the contract with the UAE company QZ for a term of 15 years to rehabilitate and operate the plant's mills while public ownership of the plant is retained. The output and target workforce figures remain announced projections, not verified outcomes.

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