Raysut Cement Company, the Omani group, has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Pioneer Cement Industries, based in the UAE, has signed a deal for the development of a limestone mine near Tbilisi in the Eastern European nation of Georgia.

As one of the largest producers of cement in the Sultanate, Raysut said that the agreement, which was inked with SFL International, will focus on the production of limestone from a concession owned by Pioneer Cement Industries.

In a filing to the Muscat Securities Market, the company said that the 10-year deal will see SFL International pay a royalty to Pioneer Cement for the mining of the limestone deposits. This announcement comes on the back of Pioneer Cement’s announcement last year, that it was in the process of setting up an integrated cement plant in Georgia, at an investment of $200 million.

This plant will come up near the limestone mines of Tbilisi and will have a production capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per annum, it added. The investment into Georgia provides Pioneer Cement with an opportunity to diversify from the Middle East, into a market with large infrastructure growth and a shortage of clinker and high-quality cement, the statement elaborated.

News of the Georgia expansion comes on the wake of the company’s recent announcement that it had signed a land lease agreement and Port of Terminal services agreement with Port of Duqm Company, which would cover the building of a new grinder unit in Oman, at an investment of $30 million.

In addition to being one of the largest and amongst the most modern cement manufacturers in the UAE, Pioneer Cement Industries has a 1.2 million tonne greenfield cement plant in Ras Al Khaimah.