Tanzania: The Tanzanian government has urged cement producers to establish their own depots in remote areas to reduce the risk of rising cement prices. The Minister for Industry, Trade and Marketing, Dr Cyril Chami, said the time had come to ensure cement prices were uniform throughout the country.

"Although the manufacturing firms incur transport costs in shipping the product to the market, they offer it at retail prices that are not affordable to ordinary people," said Chami. He cited the case of Coca Cola, which sells its drinks at the same price in all the regions, saying this has been made possible with the availability of depot services. "Cement manufacturers should emulate what the soft drink producers are doing by establishing their own depots so as to ensure equitable retail price of the products in all the regions," he added.

According to one of the major producers in the country, Tanzania Portland Cement Company (TPCC), development in the construction industry will increase demand for cement demand rapidly. A recent report conducted by the Tanzania Securities Limited (TSL), shows that the cement industry is expected to grow further due to high demand from the construction industry, which has already increased by 10% since 2007.

"We expect demand to grow at 18% if the retail business, infrastructure development and mining investments are sustained and the economic momentum quickly returns to pre-global financial crisis levels," said Moremi Marwa, the TLS's report analyst.

Tanzania remains a net importer of cement and, despite the recent up-cycle expansion of about 1.4Mt/yr, there are plans to increase capacity by 0.75Mt/yr. This comprises 0.25Mt/yr from Lafarge (Mbeya Cement) and 0.5Mt/yr from Lake Cement in the next two years.