Mozambique is on course to more than double its cement capacity

Three new factories are due to open before the end of the year in Mozambique as the country's cement capacity is expanded from just over 2Mta to around 5.3Mta.

Greenfield plants are being built by CIF-Moz, owned by the China International Fund, and Limak Cement of Turkey, in the southern province of Maputo. Meanwhile, Fabrica Cimentos de Cabo Delgado is establishing a new plant in the north of the country.

The  job now is to protect the rapidly-developing industry. At the end of June, the Mozambican government introduced new regulations covering the production and importation of cement. Speaking about the new regime, the national director of industry, Mateus Matusse, told a local newspaper that the government has applied a surcharge of 10.5 per cent on imports. He added that other forms of protection included in the new regulations cover certification requirements such as packaging and expiry dates.

He added that the demand for cement from the construction industry is the instrumental factor in attracting investors to the cement sector. Thus, Mozambique has seen the doubling of the number of new plants over the last four years.

The country now has 11 factories with the main supplier being Cimentos de Mocambique (Cement of Mozambique) which has production facilities in Maputo, Sofala, and Nampula. Cimentos de Mocambique is 82.4 per cent owned by the Brazilian cement giant InterCement.

The other cement producers are S and S Cimentos, Sunera, Cimentos Nacional, Adil Cimentos, Austral Cimentos, Cimentos da Beira and Maputo Cement and Steel.