The Ras Al Khaimah Emirate is endowed with good resources that will enable it to realize rapid economic and social development. Ras Al Khaimah is unique in the Gulf in terms of housing leading industrial units, which manufacture various types of cement, clinker and ceramics. The ceramic industry in Ras Al Khaimah has a worldwide reputation and represents a solid base for construction development in the UAE.

Ceramic

RAK Ceramics

RAK Ceramics operates nine factories in the emirate with plants in Bangladesh, Slovakia and China. With exports to more than 135 countries on five continents, RAK Ceramics is one of the top three ceramic manufacturers in he world. It is located 20 kilometers south of RAK city on the highway to Dubai, giving it easy access to the UAE markets and ports.

RAK Ceramics produces 200,000 square meters of ceramic and gees porcellanto tiles everyday. Moreover, two of the presses and three kilns are used exclusively to produce special items such as decors, listellos and skirting. For more details, please visit their website:
www.rakceramics.com

Cement

One of the most important local industries is the cement and building materials industry. Local stone, quarried from the mountains, is used to produce a variety of building materials, from aggregates to ceramic tiles. In fact RAK, is the only emirate in the UAE to produce oil-well cement, white cement and lime, and is a major domestic supplier and exporter of these much-needed products.

A brief overview on the major cement companies is given below:

Union Cement Company: (UCC)

Union Cement Company (UCC) was the first cement producer to be established in UAE. It was set up in 1972 in the Khor Kuwair Industrial area and production commenced in 1975. The existing annual capacity of 1.2 million tons is being increased to 4.0 million tons with one of the biggest kilns in the world.

UCC produces Ordinary Portland Cement, Moderate and High Sulphate Resisting Cement to meet the market needs. UCC is the only oil-well cement producer in UAE and has been serving the national oil industry for over the last 25 years. Its quality assurance systems are certified to ISO 9001, 14001 and API Spec Q1 standards.

In addition to the domestic market, with its proximity to the Saqr Port, UCC also serves the Middle East and East African markets

Gulf Cement Company

Gulf Cement Company is the largest cement producer in the United Arab Emirates and a leading regional cement exporter. Their principal operating cement has an installed annual production capacity of 2.6 million tons cement and 1.3 million tons clinker. Besides supplying products to the local market, Gulf Cement also exports cement to customers in more than 11 countries. In 2005 Gulf Cement exported 246,035 tons of cement.

Ras Al Khaimah Cement Company (RAK Cement Company)

The RAK Cement Company was established in 1995 as part of the continuing economic and social development policy being implemented throughout the emirate. It was designed and built using the latest technology, to take advantage of the prime quality raw materials which are available in the extensive mountains of Ras Al Khaimah. The plant annually produces 960,000 tons of clinker and 1,000,000 tons of cement complying to BS and ASTM standards.

The Ras Al Khaimah Cement Company plant is connected to a terminal inside the adjacent Saqr Port , it has the capacity to load ships up to 40,000 dwt, in a minimum amount of time. The expected cement exports of RAK Cement Company by end of 2006 is 60,552 mt. The expected sales turnover at the end of 2006 is AED 294.8 million. For more details, please visit their website:
www.rakcc.ae .

Quarrying

It has long been known that there is high quality limestone deposits in the emirate, so setting up a factory to exploit these resources was a natural development. RAK has limestone quarries and crushers for aggregate production which support the construction, steel industry and the cement industry in the U.A.E.

The Ras Al Khaimah Lime Company, Noora, is a subsidiary of RAK White Cement . A further extension of Noora is the Lime Brick Factory - another part of the group - which manufactures calcium silicate bricks.

Pharmaceutical

The pharmaceutical industry of RAK covers the local and export market (worldwide).

RAK is home to Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries, which has developed into an international industry leader in a highly competitive market. The Julphar Group has recorded a total sales of AED 544 million in 2005 registering a growth of 11.6% compared to last year.

Julphar is a composite corporation having seven manufacturing plants, named Julphar I, II, III, IV, V, VI and VII. Five plants are situated in UAE with an additional plant in South America and another in Europe. Beside seven manufacturing plants, Julphar also has several wholly owned subsidiaries. These subsidiaries work as separate service entities and operate a network of distribution, warehousing, transport fleet and pharmacy management in UAE as well as in Oman, which support distribution of Julphar products in the region.

In addition to the above, Julphar also owns several other support units such a printing and packaging unit, a plastic dosing cup and aluminum pilfer-proof cap manufacturing plant, an environmentally controlled transportation fleet, carpentry workshops, Engineering Design and Construction Division, etc.

Julphar produces a wide range of pharmaceutical products catering to a large spectrum of therapeutic needs. Julphar has a strong presence in all major therapeutic segments and produces about 400 formulations under 120 brand names.

For further information, please refer to Julphar's website:
www.julphar.com

Glass Industry

Guardian

Guardian, one of the world's largest manufacturers of float glass and fabricated glass products is to build a plant in Ras Al Khaimah. Guardian is a joint venture company that manufactures and supplies the automotive industry with a variety of exterior products. For more details, please visit their website:
www.guardian.com .

Arc International

Arc International one of the world's leading glassware companies has recently set-up a plant in Ras Al Khaimah. For more details, please visit their website:
www.arc-intl.com

Printing & Packaging Industry

RAK has very sophisticated printing and packaging factories. Majan is one of the fastest growing printing and packaging company in the UAE. It was established in 1995 and started its commercial production in 1996 with a facility which could convert nearly 2500 tons annually with a maximum of five colours printing. Today, Majan works with a list of renowned multinational customers whose requirements are globally uniform. The annual capacity of Majan is now 15,000 tons. For more details, please visit their website:
www.majan.com.

Technology Industry

Falcon Technology International

Falcon Technologies International "FTI" is an industrial group with its headquarters and manufacturing plant in Ras Al Khaimah. The company's activities are focused on Digital Data Storage Media manufacturing, promotion and commercialisation worldwide. For more details, please visit their website:
www.falconrak.com

Food

The dairy products farms in RAK are one of the first in UAE, selling milk, yogurt, etc. Poultry production (chicken and eggs) in RAK is also one of the first in UAE. There are also small vegetable production houses available.