Tarmac Middle East, one of the largest and leading suppliers of aggregates and asphalt in the region, has signed a deal with Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of the UAE’s national railway.

As per the MoU, Tarmac Middle East will utilize Etihad Rail operations for the distribution of its products from its local arm, Al Futtaim Tarmac Quarry Product Company, located at Shawkah in Ras Al-Khaimah, to Etihad Rail’s distribution and export terminals across the UAE.

It will also enable the distribution to other GCC counties once Etihad Rail completes its connection to the mainline GCC rail network at the end of 2018.

The agreement will also provide Etihad Rail with additional volumes of bulk commodities transport capability from its export terminals to other locations within the UAE.  

Commenting on the deal, Faris Saif Al Mazrouei, the acting CEO of Etihad Rail, said: “We are very pleased that we have reached such a mutually beneficial agreement that will enable Tarmac Middle East to enhance its logistic operations, while at the same time increase Etihad Rail’s distribution capacity beyond its export terminals.”

“Etihad Rail will provide its partners with faster, reliable, higher capacity and lower cost transportation services across the UAE and the wider GCC region in the future. We are confident that our sustainable logistics solutions will attract more UAE organizations,” stated Al Mazrouei.

It is expected that the volume to products Tarmac Middle East will transport by 2020 via Etihad Rail will reach 6,000,000 tonnes.

Azmat Jafri, the UAE country manager, Al Futtaim Tarmac Quarry Product Company described it as a significant milestone for its business and said it comes at a time when the company is expanding rapidly in the UAE.

“Logistics and transport are some of our biggest operational costs. Utilizing Etihad Rail services will provide us with cost-effective and reliable transport and we look forward to a long-term and successful partnership,” he noted.

Tarmac Middle East is a subsidiary of Tarmac Ltd, a UK based company and is one of the world's leading names for Quarry products and Asphalting solutions with a heritage of more than 100 years.-TradeArabia News Service