Société nouvelle des ciments du Congo (SONOCC) will restart its production of cement from 31 January after several weeks of work stoppage, said the company’s Director General, Il Xingtao.

It is expected that the additional output will help alleviate the cement shortage in the Republic of Congo and put an end to soaring cement prices. Prices have jumped to XAF120,000 (US$206.67) to date from XAF70,000 in November 2021. At present only Forspak’s plant is operating but is unable to cover national demand.

“On the Sonocc side, the cable car is down, because of the health crisis linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, the order we placed in France is slow to arrive. But, we are looking for vehicles to transport the limestone from the quarry to the factory,” II Xingtao said.

He also envisages an agreement with the general manager of Dangote to that SONOCC can obtain supplies of limestone from the Dangote factory. "That's the way to solve the problem right now. For Sonocc, we will resume production next Monday in order to lower prices,” he said.