Ghacem denies any responsibility for cement shortage

Responding to the local reports on Ghana's possibility of facing a cement shortage, Ghacem has refused suggestions that it has reduced production. The company has denied speculation that it had contributed to any shortage and claims that it currently has an output of 58,000t of cement per week.

In an interview with the company’s strategy and corporate affairs director, Dr George Dawson-Ahmoah, said Ghacem was currently facing two challenges in attempts to arrest the shortage.

It identified the first as erratic power outages affecting production, especially at its Takoradi plant and the second as “the current pressure on the market”. He observed that “for one reason or the other, other cement manufacturers and importers of cement cannot meet the demand in supply due to the depreciation of the cedi."

This, he said, has caused importers to refuse sale of their products, with the congestion at the port in Togo also hindering the operations of Diamond Cement, Aflao, which imported its raw materials from that country.

He added that the aforementioned challenges have “pushed pressure” onto Ghacem because an average of about 40,000t of cement expected from other local manufacturers and importers is now missing in the market. “Now the pressure is on us to meet this huge shortfall in production,” he noted, calling for immediate action to address country’s electricity challenges and the depreciation of the cedi.