shore area near Sayut. In 1979, AGIP ob- day capacity for its fifth consecutive
year. tamed a new 15,000-square-kilometer con- Production averaged 35,000
barrels per day cession off the Mukalla coast. The Russian in both 1978-79.
The refinery imported firm Technoexport also operated a 10,000- crude oil
from Kuwait, Qatar, and the square-kilometer tract off the Thamud United
Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia ceased coast. exporting crude to PDRY in 1978
owing to 
 Late in 1979, the World Bank's Interna- political differences. The Government
tional Development Association (IDA) ap- acquired ownership of all oil-bunkering
faproved a $9 million credit for a major cilities in Aden in 1978 under an
agree petroleum exploration project. The project ment with BP. The Yemen
National Petrowas to include a 15-month seismic survey leum Co. was created
to assume responsibilover a large portion of the onshore area, as ity for
transporting, storing, marketing, and well as project management, technical
as- distributing petroleum products in the sistance, data evaluation, and
promotion of wake of BP's departure. 
exploration areas to foreign oil companies. Salt production continued at
a modest The survey was to be conducted by a team of pace, averaging 75,000
tons per year in expatriates, who were to assist in training a 1978-79. Salt
was produced at the General local Yemeni staff. PDRY contributed $1 Salt
Organization's facilities at Khawr million to the cost of the project, which
was Maksoir northeast of Aden. The plant proto be completed by 1982. duced
unrefined marine salt from the evapThe petroleum refinery at Aden, owned
oration of seawater. Nearly 90% of producby BP until nationalized in 1977,
operated tion was exported to African countries. 
at less than 25% of its 160,000-barrel-per- 
 
 
YEMEN ARAB REPUBLIC 
 THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF OTHER COUNTRIES OF THE NEAR EAST 1225 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The mineral industry of the Yemen Arab Republic was of little significance
to the country's economy. Mineral activity consisted of the mining of salt
and gypsum, and the production of cement. Salt remained the only mineral
export, with revenues of approximately $110,000'~ in 1978 and $280,000 in
1979. Exploration for petroleum resources and copper continued, but no production
was registered for either commodity. 
 The Yemen Arab Republic's only significant export was manpower, with remittances
from Yemenis working abroad, mostly in Saudi Arabia, amounting to $1.4 billion
in both 1978 and 1979. Until 1977 or 1978, these remittances brought growing
balance of payments surpluses and increasing foreign exchange reserves, despite
a large balance of trade deficit, averaging $800 million for the 2 years.
By 1979 the situation had changed. Remittances remained fairly constant,
but because of a dormant industrial sector, the import bill began outpacing
revenues, and the overall balance of payments surplus dropped from $340 million
in 1978 to $160 million in 1979, and a deficit was expected for 1980.19 
 Under the 5-year plan (1976-80), Yemen's growth was continuous but uneven.
GNP rose by 8% from 1978 to 1979, but 30% to 35% inflation remained a problem.
Yemen's second 5-year plan was expected to con- 
centrate on infrastructure development, expansion of the commercial-industrial
sector, and increased agricultural output. 
 The Yemen Salt Mining Corp. continued its open pit mining of rock salt at
Salif. Modernization of the mine and shiploading facilities in 1977 upgraded
capacity from 100,000 tons per year to 1 million tons per year. The Salif
deposit was located on the mainland side of the Kamaran passage which forms
the sheltered deepwater harbor of Salif. The deposit was estimated at 250
million tons of rock salt with a 98.2% NaCl and 0.36% Ca content. The major
stumbling block of the operation was no longer mining and loading, but marketing.
During the 5-year modernization project, 1972-77, the company's major buyer,
Japan, had found other sources of salt, and was unwilling to renew any contracts
in 1978 or 1979. The company was forced to sell on the spot market and through
short-term contracts. The United Nations stepped in to help in late 1977,
and appointed Roskill Industrial Consultants (United Kingdom) to conduct
a worldwide marketing survey for the Yemen Salt Mining Corp. North Korea
and Bangladesh both agreed to import salt in 1978, and the industry was looking
toward the opening of new chloralkali plants in the Middle East for an export
market. 
 Gypsum was recovered in association with rock salt in Salif, and was sold
to the