Astra mining project set to launch in Q1-2016

Saudi Arabia’s Astra Industrial Group expects its 60 percent-owned Astra Mining Co. to start operations in the first quarter of 2016. 

The Kharj-based project has a designed production capacity of 99,000 tons and 66,000 tons of soda and caustic lime, respectively.  

The construction of Tabuk Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Co. is already completed, the company said. The facility was put on a trial-run that will last between 6-12 months. Dammam-based Tabuk, which is wholly owned by Astra, will mainly produce antibiotics, Astra added in its board report. 

The Tadawul-listed company also said it will build Astra Polymer Compounding Co. in India with a production capacity of 16,000 tons. Experimental operations are projected to begin by the year's end. 

Astra reported a net profit of SAR 109.3 million in 2014, a nearly 57 percent drop year-on-year. The decline came on the back of lower gross profit margins in the steel sector, along with added overhead.