In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, the cement industry in Côte d’Ivoire has also faced unprecedented increases in the prices of sea freight, which has sent the price of clinker in the international market up by 80 per cent, according to Rachid Yousry, CEO of LafargeHolcim Côte d’Ivoire.

Clinker has also become more expensive as a result of additional clinker storage costs due to congestion in the Autonomous Port of Abidjan. Unloading can take 25-30 days.

To date the cement producer has avoided price increases thanks to adjustments at plants, the acquisition of loading docks at the port and the diversification of raw materials, which saw the opening of a pozzolan quarry in Bouaké.