Zambia: Jimmy Khan, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Lafarge Zambia, has complained about production overcapacity and competition to the president of Zambia. He said that local cement consumption is 2.2Mt/yr compared to production of 5Mt/yr, according to the Lusaka Times newspaper. He made the visit to the president of the country to inform him of a 25% rise in the price of cement. Khan blamed the price hike on business losses.
However, Khan praised the government for its infrastructure development and said that the subsidiary of LafargeHolcim has moved much of its despatches from road to railway. At present the cement producer has a 33% market share. It also intends to continue using the Mpulungu Port in Northern Province to export cement to the east African market.