Oman Exported 14.02 Million Tonnes of Gypsum Ore in 2025

Oman exported about 14.02 million tonnes of gypsum ore during 2025, a volume that keeps the sultanate among the reference suppliers of the mineral to cement, plaster and wallboard producers, according to Argaam. Mining activity linked to gypsum generated financial revenues of roughly 3.11 million Omani rials over the year, supported by infrastructure in Dhofar Governorate.

Production concentrated in Dhofar

Dhofar is the country's most important gypsum-producing region. A significant share of the mining activity is concentrated in the Rawiyah area of the wilayat of Thumrait, which hosts 36 quarries and five plants operating as an integrated production system.

Thumrait holds the second-largest gypsum reserve in Oman, after the wilayat of Shaleem and the Hallaniyat Islands. The Ministry of Energy and Minerals frames the sector within the targets of Oman Vision 2040, which ties mining to economic diversification and to raising local content.

Downstream capacity still modest

Salem bin Bakhit Al Kathiri, director of the minerals department in Dhofar Governorate at the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, told the Oman News Agency that the ministry's work is not limited to regulating extraction and export, but focuses on maximising the value added to the ore inside Oman and on converting mineral resources into manufactured products.

Around six product lines based on gypsum are manufactured domestically, including suspended ceilings, gypsum boards, agricultural fertiliser, gypsum powder and building plaster. Al Kathiri put installed capacity at:

• about 35.5 million square metres of gypsum board a year;
• more than 237,000 tonnes of gypsum powder a year;
• about 60,000 square metres of gypsum blocks a year.

Measured against a raw-ore export flow of more than 14 million tonnes, that processing base absorbs only a fraction of national output, which is why the ministry says it is working to balance foreign demand with the raw material needs of domestic industry.

Exports move to a single channel in June 2026

Marketing and export of gypsum and chrome ore have been assigned to Oman Minerals Trading Company, part of Minerals Development Oman. The company manages exports centrally and negotiates directly with buyers in foreign markets, with the stated aims of improving pricing mechanisms, strengthening the bargaining position of Omani ore and opening new markets.

The company was established under Ministerial Decision No. 18/2025, which grants it the exclusive right to export gypsum and chrome ore from June 2026. Domestic sales remain outside its remit.

Early results from the model show the average export sale price of gypsum rising 8 percent against the same period a year earlier. The company marketed and exported more than 2.83 million tonnes of gypsum to 10 countries aboard 54 vessels that sailed from the Port of Salalah, alongside an expansion into new African markets and the reactivation of shipments to South Korea.

Regulatory and environmental oversight

The Ministry of Energy and Minerals continues monitoring and inspection work to verify that operators comply with the occupational health, safety and environmental guide for the mining sector. That work covers waste management, emission control, protection of water resources and the implementation of environmental impact assessments.

The ministry links these measures to a broader system for managing mineral wealth built on regulating production, improving marketing and export efficiency, developing processing industries and raising local content, with the objective of consolidating Oman's position as a reliable supplier of gypsum and gypsum products to global markets.