Bahrain's construction industry is still reeling under the cement crisis, with supplies too limited to meet demand.

Contractors and ready-mix concrete companies have welcomed government moves to import cement and other construction materials from around the world.

But they say supply must be 'consistent and assured' for the long-term.

At least one ready-mix company has ordered its own shipment from Pakistan, which is expected to arrive in a few weeks.

Contractors and ready-mix companies say cement of a particular quality must be maintained throughout construction projects.

'This is essential to maintain quality and consistency on a project and avoid technical difficulties and complications,' said Nass Group vice-chairman Samir Nass, one of the country's biggest contractors.

'Any construction material, particularly cement, coming in from anywhere is welcome, but it should happen only if importers are sure they will have regular supplies for a long period of time.

'When a project is started with a particular brand of cement, it has to be completed with that, otherwise there could be serious problems.'

He said the industry was still in crisis, despite the resumption of supplies from Saudi Arabia earlier this month.

'We are limping back to normalcy and hope it will be okay in a few more weeks' time, said Nass.

He said only about 60 to 70 per cent of the industry's daily need of 8,000 to 10,000 tonnes was coming in at the moment. 'Supplies have re-started but not to the extent that we want,' he added.

He said these had to pick up in the days to come, for the contractors to clear the backlog.

Delmon Precast general manager Jon Mottram confirmed the supplies were back on, but said they were not sufficient.

'We are back at work, though not on full capacity yet. I hope we start getting enough in the next few days,' he said.

Mottram said the industry was getting only about 25,000 tonnes per week, when the requirement was in excess of 40,000 tonnes.

'We are not being told anything yet on when the supplies will normalise,' he said.

Mottram welcomed government efforts to import cement from across the world.

'That would certainly ease the situation but that is not going to happen overnight. We have to get plentiful supplies in place before that happens,' he said.

Eastern Asphalt general manager John Grey said his company, 'like many others', was looking beyond Saudi Arabia for supplies.

'We cannot depend on the Saudis for ever, so we have decided to shop for cement,' he said.

Grey said his company has recently ordered a large quantity from Pakistan. 'Hopefully, we will look elsewhere as well,' he said.

Grey said it was not the Saudi's fault that they attempted to clamp down on exports.

'They had their reasons, among them being they need a lot of cement for their own consumption,' he said.

There were also allegations that some unscrupulous importers were procuring cement at cheap rates and selling it in the black market.

'This has been a wake-up call for us and we have woken up to reality,' said Grey.

He said the company would slowly get away from their dependence on Saudi cement. 'It should happen sooner rather than later,' he said.

An official at Bahrain's largest cement importer, United Cement Company, said it was getting 'just about adequate' supplies and two cargo ships with cement had docked at Mina Salman in the last two days.

'However, we would be happy if we get more to get work back on track within the shortest possible time,' he said.

Cement supplies from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain were halted for 10 days, costing the construction industry an estimated BD4 million ($10.6 million) a day.

Supplies resumed on June 8, but stopped again almost immediately, until limited supplies resumed on June 14.