ARM Cement expects Kenyan market to grow for the next 50 years

Kenya's cement market is set to expand on the back of government infrastructure spending on ports and roads, while house builders trying to meet an annual deficit of some 440,000 units. A Bloomberg report claims that these factors are encouraging ARM Cement Ltd, Kenya’s second-largest cement maker, to raise capital by selling eurobonds to fund a US$300m expansion programme.

ARM Cement looks committed to building cement capacity for the long term. Pradeep Paunrana, ARM's managing director, explains that: “We see the market growing for the next 50 years in this country.”

The company intends to double cement production within four years from 2.5Mt in 2012, deputy managing director, Surendra Bhatia, said. Current signs for growth are certainly encouraging. The domestic cement industry grew 3.5 per cent to 4.64Mt last year, according to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics data.

Meanwhile, Kenyan cement consumption per capita has escalated by as much as 60 per cent to 85.7kg over the past five years, according to a local finance house.

ARM Cement will next year begin construction of a clinker factory in Kenya at a cost of US$250m to boost its capacity to 5Mta of cement, Bhatia said. Another US$50m will be spent on other projects, he said.