Displaying items by tag: Cameroon

Gabon: Morocco’s Ciments de l'Afrique (CIMAF) is planning to upgrade its cement grinding plant at Owendo with a clinker production line. The upgrade is anticipated to double the plant’s cement production capacity to 1.2Mt/yr from 0.6Mt/yr, according to Agence Ecofin. CIMAF plans to invest Euro150m in the project. Potential quarry sites at Ntoum and Nkoltang have been identified to support the initiative. The upgrade is intended to meet local demand and to provide export options to the Republic of the Congo and Cameroon. CIMAF’s grinding plant was opened in June 2016.

Middle East/Africa: LafargeHolcim is expanding its specialised Binastore retail network for construction materials in Middle East and Africa. The construction materials producer already operates 500 stores in the region that serves end-consumers, self-builders, masons and smaller contractors. The newly-branded network will sell a broad range of LafargeHolcim’s own products and solutions as well as a variety of other construction materials from partner suppliers.

The first stores operating under the Binastore brand have begun to serve customers in Algeria, Cameroon, Iraq and Lebanon. The format of the stores will vary with sizes from 50m² to 2000m² and it will also include mobile stores in some rural locations. Existing stores in the region will gradually be rebranded as Binastore, while new stores will also open under this brand.

“Our vision is to build the largest retail network for construction materials in the Middle East Africa region so the Binastore brand becomes a household name for small and medium-size builders. Building on our success in Algeria, our goal is to deliver a range of building products, including our own, through multiple channels to meet the needs and lifestyle of our customers who are becoming more and more sophisticated,” said Saâd Sebbar, Region Head Middle East Africa.

The Binastore network is part of LafargeHolcim’s long-term strategy of expanding its retail business in emerging markets. In April 2017, the group announced the rollout of Disensa, a similar concept, in Latin America, where the goal is to have a network of around 1000 stores operating by the end of 2017.

Cameroon: Mira’s plans to build a 1Mt/yr cement plant have taken a step forward with an investment of US$55m. The investment is a continuation of an agreement signed with the government in late 2015, according to the African Press Agency. The project intends to use a 2013 private investment incentives law granting tax exemptions over a 5 – 10 year period to set up the plant.

Cameroon: Cimencam, a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim via LafargeHolcim Maroc Afrique (LHMA), has announced that it will build a 0.5Mt/yr cement grinding plant at Nomayos, near Yaoundé with a budget of Euro42.6m. The plant will be the cement producer’s third in the country, according to the Échos Quotidien newspaper. Cement from the new plant will be sold locally as well as elsewhere in Central Africa. LHMA owns a 54.74% share in Cimencam.

Cameroon: Cement illegally smuggled across the border from Nigeria to northern Cameroon has lowered the price of cement by 20% in the north of the country. Dangote branded cement is allegedly being smuggled into the country despite a ban on imports, according to the Business in Cameroon journal. The situation is causing a price disparity of up to 40% between the north and the south of the country. Cameroon restricted imports of cement following the construction of new plants.

Cameroon: CBMI has signed a contract with LafargeHolcim to build a 0.5Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Yaoundé. The project will be built for Cimencam, LafargeHolcim's joint venture in the country. No value for the deal was disclosed.

The scope of the project covers clinker feeding to cement packing and shipping. The contract will come into force after being signed, receiving of guarantees and CBMI’s receiving advance payments. Contract periods are 18 months after contracts coming into force to complete industrial tests, and 19 months to commissioning.

It follows the announcement in mid-December 2016 of grinding plant projects in Uganda and Kenya.

Cameroon: Medcem Cameroon, a subsidiary of Turkey’s Eren Holdings, is set to inaugurate its cement grinding plant in Douala in mid-December 2016. The plant originally started selling cement in October 2015 before it left the market, according to the African Press Agency. It has since resumed selling its cement. The plant has an investment of US$21m it has a production capacity of 0.6Mt/yr. It is the fourth cement plant in the country bringing the national production capacity to 43Mt/yr.

Benin/Cameroon: LafargeHolcim Maroc Afrique has purchased a 50% stake in SCB Lafarge Benin and 54.7% in Cimencam in Cameroon. Amounts for the deals have not been disclosed, according to the Ecofin Agency. LafargeHolcim Maroc Afrique, a joint venture between Lafarge Holcim and the Société nationale d’investissement also bought Socimat in Cote d’Ivoire in July 2016.

SCB Lafarge in Benin produces about 600,000t/yr of cement and Cimencam produces 1.7Mt/yr. The new acquisitions are part of LafargeHolcim’s expansion strategy across Africa. Countries with high growth potential such as Burkina Faso, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Congo, DRC and Senegal have also been targeted.

Cameroon: Les Cimenteries du Cameroun (Cimencam), a subsidiary of the multinational LafargeHolcim, has announced that it has signed an investment agreement with the government for the construction of a new cement grinding unit in Nomayas.

The new US$40.3m installation is scheduled to start operation in 2018, initially with a capacity of 0.5Mt/yr. It will have the option to increase production to 1Mt/yr. The plant will use imported clinker from the port of Kribi.

Cameroon: The share capital of Medcem Cameroon has risen to US$689,000 from US$17,200, the company has revealed in a statement. However, the cement grinding plant has not produced cement for the local market in at least six months according to the Agence de Presse Africaine. Medcem’s production stopped after several shutdowns earlier in 2015 and a period of testing in late August 2015.

Medcem Cameroon, a subsidiary of Turkish company Eren Holding, has a cement production capacity of 0.6Mt/yr. Les Cimenteries du Cameroun (CIMENCAM), a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, and Ciments de l'Afrique (CIMAF), part of the Moroccan Addoha group, both operate integrated cement plants in the country. Dangote inaugurated a cement grinding plant in August 2015 and Mira is also planning to build a grinding plant in the country.