According to industry estimates, demand for cement in Oman is expected to rise further this year as compared to previous year, Oman Daily Observer has reported. Oman Cement estimates the total cement demand to increase by 7% year-on-year to six million tonnes in 2012. Until recently, Omani cement manufacturers were facing strong competition from UAE-based plants. "With the rising operational costs, the UAE players are no longer in a situation to offer the cement at lower prices, which gives strong case of market share capitalisation by local players during the current year," said Kanak Sundar, Senior Analyst at Gulf Baader Capital Markets. "This will be a turnaround situation as retail and bulk buyers may start favouring Omani cement producers since the selling price of both the UAE and Oman players will be the same," he added.