Ethiopia-based Messebo Cement Factory Plc has hired state-owned consultant Industrial Projects Service (IPS) to conduct an assessment of the Addis Ababa market with a view to opening a new grinding plant in the region.

The project is mainly intended to minimise the transportation cost incurred from the company’s cement plant located in Mekelle to the Ethiopian capital, a distance of 770km. The grinding plant would therefore enable Messebo to compete with existing plants that are already situated in the city, Kidane Tekelehaimanot, deputy project manager, told Fortune (Ethiopia).

Should the project come to fruition, clinker would be sourced from the Mekelle works, and the final cement product would be packaged in Addis Ababa, Kidane added.

Messebo Cement Factory Plc commenced operations in 2001 with a 0.9Mta integrated plant. The company added a second 1.2Mta production line in 2012, representing an investment of ETB1.2bn, which was supplied by China’s Hefei Cement Research and Design Institute. The plant produces OPC as well as pozzolana and sulphate-resistant cements.