Cement News tagged under: ethiopia

RSS feed

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...

Dangote's 1H20 results see 2% revenue growth

27 July 2020, Published under Cement News

Dangote Cement reported group revenue up two per cent to NGN476.9bn (US$1.23bn) in the 1H20. Group EBITDA rose to NGN218.1bn and pan-African EBITDA increased by 31.6 per cent to NGN31.5bn. Profit before tax was up 4.7 per cent to NGN162.9bn and net debt stood at NGN372.1bn at the end of 30 June 2020. Michel Puchercos, Group CEO, said:  "I am humbled by the fact that we continue to be in a strong position despite the economic downturn that the world is facing due to COVID-19. Although April ...

Ethiopia starts online cement sales

14 July 2020, Published under Cement News

Cement customers in Ethiopia can now gain access to buying cement online with the start-up of Dumbulo Shopping Solutions. The online shopping platform founded by Dr Gemechu Waktola will boost cement sales in the region around Addis Ababa. The company has entered into an agreement with National Cement, which has a central cement warehouse in Addis Ababa, and is in discussions with other cement producers.  "Big investment projects and government infrastructure development projects can dir...

Ethiopia's cement prices begin to stabilise

22 June 2020, Published under Cement News

Ethiopia’s Ministry of Trade and Industry has confirmed that cement prices have been stabilising in the country, as a result of regulatory measures taken by the Ministry, according to New Business Ethiopia. Cement prices had almost doubled to around ETB450/50kg bag (US$13) recently, reportedly due to some major suppliers not producing at full capacity and issues with hoarding of the product. Since a shortage of imported material was the reason for the fall in production, the Ministry h...

Abay Cement plant now 60% complete

19 May 2020, Published under Cement News

The construction of Abay Cement Factory in Amhara, Ethiopia, is now 60 per cent complete and will commence operations next year, according to Samuel Halala, director of the Ethiopian Chemical and Construction Inputs Industry Development Institute. The 2.5Mta project is being developed by Abay Industrial Development Association. On average, cement plants in the country are using around 60 per cent of their production capacity, stated Mr Halala. He also noted that the price of cement has su...

Lack of foreign currency impacts Mugher productivity

22 July 2019, Published under Cement News

A shortage of foreign currency is affecting the operations of Ethiopia-based Mugher Cement, according to Akalu Gebrehiwot, the company’s general manager. The company requires around US$3m annually for the procurement of spare parts for its cement plants. However, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia and the National Bank of Ethiopia could not allocate more than US$0.5m due to the shortage of foreign currency that is currently affecting the country, said Mr Gebrehiwot. The company is carrying ou...

Ethiopian cement plants encouraged to turn to biomass

17 July 2019, Published under Cement News

The Ethiopian government hopes that more cement plants will consider replacing their coal imports with locally-produced biomass to reduce foreign currency spending and cut carbon emissions. Many of Ethiopia's 17 factories import coal from South Africa at a cost of US$220m annually. The  CCIIDD is working with the cement industry to replace foreign coal with local biomass. "If we can replace 40 per cent of the coal with the biomass, we can save up to US$88m per year," said Samuel Healala...

Dangote Cement clocks in with iris technology

11 June 2019, Published under Cement News

Dangote Cement is keeping an eye on staff arrival and attendance with an iris recognition system to keep tabs on its 30,000 employees located in five countries in Africa. Dangote's operations in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Republic of Congo will use the iris-ID system. The software is contactless and simply uses the coloured part of the eye surrounding the pupil to identify staff. According to Preasanna Kumar Burri, Dangote Group chief information officer, the traditi...

Dangote Cement sees volumes rise, revenues down in 1Q19

29 April 2019, Published under Cement News

Dangote Cement reported increased volumes of 6.3Mt, up 2.3 per cent YoY, in the first quarter of 2019. However, group revenues slipped 0.8 per cent to NGN240.2bn (US$668m) and group EBITDA fell 11.2 per cent to NGN111.8bn. Nigeria Despite a subdued domestic economy, Nigeria’s cement market remained robust, expanding by six per cent in the 1Q19. However, the rate of growth slowed in February and March. As a result, Dangote’s Nigerian operations supplied nearly 4Mt, its third-highest qua...

Ethiopia: investing for a better future

08 April 2019, Published under Cement News

Ethiopia's cement capacity is in the ascent. The sector has raised its cement capacity to approximately 17Mta, but domestic cement demand was just under 9Mt in 2017. In the meantime local cement producers have turned to exporting, and last year the Ethiopian Cement Association announced the country had become a net exporter, supported by the reopening of the border with Eritrea and developed trade routes to Djibouti and Somaliland and Somalia. The country needs more large construction ...