Displaying items by tag: Mozambique

Mozambique: The National Inspectorate of Economic Activities (INAE) says that all cement producers must include an expiry date on cement packaging. The decision follows a study looking at the production, labelling, sale and transport of cement, according to the Mozambique News Agency. The ruling applies to both locally produced and imported cement.

INAE has requested that any cement should be sold at least three weeks prior to its expiry date. It is intended to give consumers consistent information about the date of production, the type of cement, the quality and the price. The central government agency is also hosting talks with local government to help provide warehouse space to distributors and retailers selling cement. It aims to stop the sale of cement on the street.

Mozambique: Singapore’s Compact Metal Industries has failed to buy a majority stake in a partially built cement plant at Salamanga, Bela Vista in Maputo Province. Compact Metal Industries was planning to pay US$30m for a 51% stake in the plant in a deal with SPI and Guhavam, according to the Business Times of Singapore newspaper. The arrangement would have also seen Compact Metal Industries settle the project’s debts to suppliers and contractors to a value of US$55m.

Mozambique: Singapore’s Compact Metal Industries plans to buy a 51% stake in a partially built cement plant at Salamanga, Bela Vista in Maputo Province. Construction of the 5000t/day plant started in 2012 and it has been ‘substantially’ completed, according in a financial filing by Compact Metal Industries. The unit is owned by CIF-MOZ, a joint venture owned by SPI (54%) and Guhava (45%). Compact Metal Industries intends to buy 34% from SPI and 17% from Guhava. As part of the deal it will settle any existing debts to suppliers and then complete the plant. Completion of the plant is expected to take around eight months.

Mozambique: The Mozambican customs service has defended the seizure of a 1440t import consignment of cement from South Africa in early June 2018. Fernando Tinga, the press attaché of the National Customs Directorate, said that the seizure of the cement was because the importing company Kawena did not present the legally required documentation at the time, according to the Noticias newspaper. Kawena has defended its actions saying that it has imported cement from South Africa for ‘many years’ and that its goods belonging to Mozambican migrant workers living in South Africa are exempt from taxes. However, it admitted that it did not have the correct documentation for the consignment.

Mozambique: Cement imported illegally from South Africa has been seized at the border town of Ressano Garcia. Customs impounded 36 railway wagons containing an estimated 29,000 bags of cement being imported by Kawena, according to the O Pais newspaper. Due to a lack of proper documentation the customs office is treating the case as fraud. The shipment is valued at US$0.12m and duties of US$74,500 should have been paid on it. Kawena says it has the documentation for the consignment, according to the Mozambique News Agency.

Mozambique: President Filipe Nyusi has inaugurated the 0.25Mt/yr Cimentos de Maiaia plant in Nacala. The US$10m project was a joint venture between Chinese firms and local investors, according to the Mozambique News Agency. Chinese investors provided 85% of the funding. The new plant is the third in the port of Nacala. Cimentos de Maiaia plans to focus on markets in the north of the country.

Mozambique: Cimentos de Mocambique has denied increased the price of its cement products. At a press conference in Nampula Jorge Reis, the managing director of Cimentos de Mocambique, said that his company had nothing to do with the ‘sharp’ increases in the price of cement charged by retailers, according to the Mozambique News Agency. Reis said that the cement producer had not raised its prices since late 2016. He added that the company’s Nacala plant had been affected by an irregular electricity supply. It is currently negotiating with its electricity supplier to improve its service. Retailers have blamed the price hike on an alleged shortage of cement and difficulties in acquiring it from cement plants.

The Provincial Director of Trade and Industry, Norberto Narciso, said that information from Cimentos de Mocambique would be distributed to businesses in Nampula and in the neighbouring province of Niassa, which also acquires cement from Nacala. He also promised that the government’s National Inspectorate of Economic Activities would check the retail price of cement to see whether the retailers are respecting the ‘recommended profit margins’.

Mozambique: President Filipe Nyusi has inaugurated Limak Cement’s 0.7Mt/yr plant in Matola. Nyusi said he expected the plant to ‘contribute to stabilising prices in a scenario of high levels of demand for cement,’ according to the Mozambique News Agency. The unit will employ over 140 people.

Mozambique: The African Elephant cement grinding plant is operating at a third of its production capacity due to low demand. The Chinese-owned plant near Pemba, Cabo Delgado in the north of the country is producing around 300t/day despite the plant’s production capacity of 1000t/day, according to sources quoted by the Mozambique News Agency. The plant’s manager expects demand to pickup once investment in the gas industry increase. The company has suffered from imports from Tanzania.

Mozambique: Ambrian, the UK-based owner of the Cimentos da Beria grinding plant, forecasts that its sales will rise by 25% year-on-year in 2017 from 2016. The prediction follows a poor third quarter where sales volumes fell by 16% and the company described the economic conditions in the country over the past year as ‘challenging.’ The group added that it has seen cement prices improve year-on-year and that the plant in Beira is now generating positive earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).

However, Ambrian also reported that it is facing ‘urgent’ short-term liquidity issues owing to difficulties in moving cash resources held within the group to the company. It is currently trying to secure short term financing and a longer-term strategic partnership and investment for the group as a whole to allow it to reduce its debt and develop its business in Mozambique.