Cement News tagged under: East Africa

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New US$435m project set for Oman

26 October 2020, Published under Cement News

Oman’s Duqm International Cement Projects Co is preparing to launch the country’s biggest integrated cement plant project with an investment of US$435m, according to the Oman News Agency. The new factory, to be located in the Special Economic Zone in Duqm (SEZAD), is expected to have a capacity of 3.5Mta (10,000tpd). It is due to start operations in 2023. The spokesman for the project stated that the new project will meet local market demand and also export to external markets such as ...

Construction on new plant set to begin in Uganda

22 October 2020, Published under Cement News

Construction of the Ateker cement plant is due to begin in Moroto district, Uganda, within the next few weeks, according to the Moroto District Investment Agency. The cement facility will be part of the Karamoja Marble complex, which will also produce lime and marble. The unit is expected to be completed within 18 months of the commencement of construction, while its capacity is set to reach 1200tpd. David Ekou Ekanya, senior engineer at the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC), has said...

Kenya cement consumption sees 8M20 record high

13 October 2020, Published under Cement News

Kenya's cement consumption for the 8M20 has hit a decade-high of 4.37Mt, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Consumption rose by 11 per cent form the 3.95Mt recorded in the same period a year earlier. Kenyan cement consumption has not passed 4.18Mt since 2016 and the rise in 2020 comes during the disruptions of COVID-19. Small-scale construction projects were largely unaffected in Kenya by the pandemic and restrictions imposed in March 2020. Cement consumption in J...

Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe to open dry mortar mix plant in 2H20

02 October 2020, Published under Cement News

Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe is set to complete the installation of a US$2.2m dry mortar mix (DMX) plant during the second half of this year. The project is part of LafargeHolcim Group's US$25m recapitalisation of its Zimbabwean subsidiary, which was announced last year. "Currently, the DMX plant is being installed and is set to be completed in the 2H20, while the vertical cement mill supply contract was signed in August 2020," said the group's chairman, Kumbirai Kat. Lafarge has ...

Livetouch Cement breached local labour laws in Zimbabwe

16 September 2020, Published under Cement News

Zimbabwian-based Livetouch Cement was found in breach of local labour laws after failing to register its workers with the National Social Security Authority (NSSA). It was only revealed that the Chinese cement manufacturer had broken the law after the death of a worker in March this year. According to NSSA, the death of an unidentified employee at the cement manufacturing plant exposed how the company had not registered any of its employees with the Workers Compensation Insurance Fund (WCIF...

Lafarge Zambia posts losses of ZMW12.3m in 1H20

14 September 2020, Published under Cement News

Lafarge Zambia Plc has posted losses of over ZMW12.3m (US$615,000) during its financial half-year period ending 30 June 2020. The company saw increased production costs and the local kwacha currency devalued during the period. Lafarge Zambia will continue to focus on developing the export market to sustain its growth as the domestic market remains substantially oversupplied with the commodity.

National Cement to boost production and build new plant

09 September 2020, Published under Cement News

Ethiopia’s National Cement (East African Holdings) is currently conducting a study at its plant in Dire Dawa to boost its 3000tpd capacity by 30 per cent. "We are planning to start implementing this plan and start producing 4000t of cement per day within the coming six months," said Buzuayehu Tadele Bizenu, board chairman of East African Holdings. Last year, the company produced over 1.2Mt of cement with most of the cement products sold in the domestic market. East Africa Holdings i...

Gypsum availability and dollar prices impact Dangote Zambia's production costs

09 September 2020, Published under Cement News

Dangote Cement Zambia Ltd (DCZL) says the closure of Chambeshi Metals has deprived the company gypsum for cement manufacture. DCZL CFO, Bright Tembo, also said the depreciation of the kwacha has impacted on costs of imported materials. "The closure of Chambeshi Metals has deprived DCZL of a reasonably priced Gypsum…We have local suppliers who are quoting in dollars and demanding payment in dollars. The depreciation of the kwacha has severely impacted on our costs of imported raw materials,"...

Ethiopia invites private sector to address cement shortage

03 September 2020, Published under Cement News

To end the chronic shortage of cement in the market, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Trade and Industry has prepared a new guideline to introduce the private sector to the supply chain. The measure went into effect from 31 August 2020. State Minister of Trade and Industry, Eshete Asfaw, said the guidelines are mainly prepared to sustain the supply chain and allow the private sector to take part in cement supply in the country. Previously the Ministry had decided that only governmental organisatio...

EAPC restructuring enters final phase

03 September 2020, Published under Cement News

The restructuring of East African Portland Cement Co (EAPC)’s human resources in Kenya is entering its final phase with 270 employees seeing their permanent contracts converted to contract terms. Speaking during a consultative meeting with the permanent staff, the acting MD, Stephen Nthei, said the strategic objective is to reduce administrative costs as outlined in the turnaround strategy adopted by the board and to comply with regulations outlined by the State Corporations Advisory Commit...