A government minister in Zambia has commended the efforts of Zambezi Portland Cement to launch a new lower-cost cement and has asked other domestic cement producers to work on reducing their cement prices.

Speaking in Ndola at an international trade fair, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Bob Sichinga, said cement companies, both existing and those emerging on the market, should consider lowering the price of the product. “It is important that the industry, not only yourselves as Zambezi Portland Cement, but also beyond those coming onto the market now, that not only should we maintain the standards, we should now start thinking of lowering the cost and make it more affordable,” he said.

Zambezi Portland Cement was announcing the launch of its new Timange Portland limestone cement, which may well help in the state's aim to build power stations in Luapula and North-Western provinces and a hydroelectric dam in Batoka on the Zambezi River.

Emmanuel Mutale, director-general of The Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZBS), stated that Timange Portland limestone cement conforms to ISO 9001 standards. Meanwhile, ZPC chief executive officer, Peter Kanaganayagam, said Timange cement is a high-quality product which has been launched at a reduced price to make it affordable.

“So people have the option of more than one product for their construction needs and, hopefully, within the next 12 months, we should be able to launch a third product and that is planned to give the Zambian people a variety of products to choose from for various construction industries,” Mr Kanaganayagam said.