Arkan Building Materials has opened a new AED1.3bn ($354m) cement plant in Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi, the UAE-based company announced.

The facility increases the company’s production capacity from 900,000 tonnes a year (t/y) to 4 million t/y and is the largest factory of its kind in the UAE.

Arkan is 51 per cent owned by the Abu Dhabi government’s General Holding Corporation (Senaat) with the remainder listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market.