Cimenterie de Lukala (CILU), located in the Republic of Congo, will be closing down due to “the unfair competition it has faced since December 2015”, according to its CEO, Ola Ora. The factory had been running at capacity utilisation rates of below 50 per cent in recent times.

The country’s government had allowed conditional imports of cement into the Republic of Congo. Domestic cement demand is estimated at around 3Mt, but local production is limited to 0.5Mt.