Displaying items by tag: Ministry of Industry and Commerce

Zimbabwe: The government is ‘optimistic’ that Zimbabwe will become self-sufficient in cement by early 2026, according to The Herald newspaper. The Industry and Commerce Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu toured the country’s Chegutu cement plant, currently under construction, where he was upbeat about Zimbabwe’s cement manufacturing capabilities.

Ndlovu said “This project is addressing critical cement shortages that we are experiencing, leading to imports from neighbouring countries. We are happy that by the beginning of 2026, this plant will start producing cement, meaning that more than likely there will be no need to import.”

The plant is owned by China-based Shuntal Investment, and administration manager Yan Bo confirmed it had invested US$70m in the project. The plant will produce 0.8Mt/yr of cement. The project currently employs 300 local people, with total employment across Shuntal’s Zimbabwe operations expected to reach 4000.

Bahrain: New rules have placed strict demands on local producers and importers. A regulation signed by Industry and Commerce Minister Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro requires all cement sold in Bahrain to meet BS EN 197-1 and GSO ASTM C150 standards and be circulated with a conformity certificate from the Bahrain Standards and Metrology Directorate. News of Bahrain has reported that there will be regular laboratory testing, specific storage and transport conditions, and penalties for non-compliance. The move reportedly marks a push to raise the standard of construction materials.

Laos: The Ministry of Industry and Commerce says that the value of cement exports rose by 25% to US$19m in the first quarter of 2018 from US$15.2m in the same period of 2017. However, imports fell by 14% to US$16.4m from US$19.1m, according to the Vientiane Times newspaper. Exports have risen as new production capacity has been commissioned in the country.

Laos exported a value of US$0.2m in 2016 but this grew to US$47.6m in 2017. Imports fell to US$68m in 2017 from US$84.3m in 2016. The country has 16 cement plants and other units are being built. At present the country has a capacity of 4.4Mt/yr. This is expected to grow to 6.7Mt/yr once all the current projects are completed. Local infrastructure projects are driving local demand including the several hydropower plants and the Laos-China railway.

Sri Lanka: The Sri Lanka Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) has allowed Insee Cement and Tokyo Cement to increase the prices of a 50kg bag of cement. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce gave its approval subject to the ratification of the CAA as it is a price-controlled commodity, according to the Times of Sri Lanka newspaper. The cement producers made the request to raise their prices due to increasing costs of raw materials. However, the country’s three other producers have not made any request to the CAA to raise their prices and the cost of imported cement is reported unchanged.