
Displaying items by tag: Tanzania
Huaxin Cement continues to grow revenue overseas in 2023
29 March 2023China: Huaxin Cement’s revenue fell by 6% year-on-year to US$4.43bn in 2022 from US$4.72bn in 2021. Its net profit decreased by 50% to US$393m from US$780m. Its sales volumes of cement and clinker declined by 20% to 75.3Mt and concrete sales volumes nearly doubled to 16.4Mm3. Despite flat cement demand the company expects a general domestic economic improvement, real estate market reforms and a focus on infrastructure to improve its fortunes in 2023.
During the reporting period the subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim started operating a 3000t/day production line at Nepal Narayani in early 2022 and commenced the second stage of a project to build a 4000t/day clinker line at Maweni in Tanzania in July 2022. Preparation work for a new clinker line project in Malawi also began. The company added that it has completed the investment and verification for ten additional projects in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere in preparation of future business expansion. Overall, 13% of the group’s operating revenue derived from business outside of China in 2022 compared to 8% in 2021.
Kasanga port to expand capacity
29 March 2023Tanzania: Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) plans to expand the capacity of the 54,000t/yr port of Kasanga on Lake Tanganyika in Rukwa Region. Mbeya Cement Company exports 42,000t/yr of cement via its terminal at the port to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. The port has been undergoing a US$1.92m upgrade to raise its berths due to rising water levels in Lake Tanganyika since April 2019.
The port of Kasanga generates revenues of US$34,200/yr for the TPA, primarily from Mbeya Cement Company’s export operations.
Patrick Rutabanzibwa appointed as chair of Tanga Cement
04 January 2023Tanzania: Tanga Cement has appointed Patrick Rutabanzibwa as its chair. It follows the resignation of Lawrence Masha in mid-December 2022.
Rutabanzibwa previously worked as the company’s deputy chair. He is also the country chair of PanAfrican Energy and is a director of the National Housing Corporation. Other notable past appointments include work as a permanent secretary in government ministries, including the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Water and Irrigation and the Ministry of Energy and Minerals. In the 1980s and 1990s he was a research officer at the state-owned Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation and held positions at the Ministry of Water, Energy and Minerals. He holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Loughborough University in the UK.
Competition body blocks Heidelberg Materials’ acquisition of majority stake in Tanga Cement
12 October 2022Tanzania: The Fair Competition Tribunal (FCT) has blocked an attempt by Heidelberg Materials to buy a 68% stake in Tanga Cement for around US$59m saying it was contrary to the law. The Germany-based building materials producer announced in October 2021 that it had agreed to buy Tanga Cement from South Africa-based AfriSam via various subsidiaries, according to the Citizen newspaper. The Fair Competition Commission (FCC) provisionally approved the transaction but required the buyer to keep the operations of Tanga Cement running, to continue producing and promoting the Simba Cement (Tanga Cement) brand and to keep employing the existing staff at Tanga Cement. However, Chalinze Cement Limited and the Tanzania Consumer Advocacy Society opposed the decision due to a potential reduction in market competition and successfully made an appeal to the FCT.
In a statement Tanga Cement said that Heidelberg Materials and AfriSam were, “considering how to proceed, but the FCT ruling has placed the acquisition at great risk of not being implemented.” It added that the parties were waiting for a formal ruling from the FCT and would then seek further advice on how to proceed.
Tanzania: Dangote Cement says that the use of gas generators in its Mtwara cement plant’s equipment and lorries has reduced fuel costs by 45% over the 15-month period since its transition in March 2021. The Citizen newspaper has reported that company recorded total savings over the period up to 30 June 2022. The producer plans to establish a compressed natural gas (CNG) filling station in Dar es Salaam. Its operations remain 70% reliant on rental vehicles that run on oil.
Maweni Limestone joins the World Cement Association
29 June 2022Tanzania/UK: Maweni Limestone has joined the World Cement Association (WCA) as a Corporate Member. The cement producer is based in Tanzania and it has a production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr. In 2020 it was acquired and reconstructed by China-based Huaxin Cement.
“We are delighted to welcome Maweni Limestone among our membership, as one of WCA’s key ambitions is to more effectively engage emerging-market players across the global cement ecosystem” explains Ian Riley, the chief executive officer of the WCA.
ARM Cement settles Maweni Limestone's debts
08 June 2022Tanzania: ARM Cement has repaid all creditors of Tanzanian subsidiary Maweni Limestone to which it owed money. The East African newspaper has reported that the group used the proceeds from its sale of Maweni Limestone to Huaxin Cement for US$102m to pay off the debts. It paid US$74.4m to creditors and US$4.6m to the Tanzanian tax authorities.
In its native Kenya, ARM Cement sold its assets to National Cement Company (NCC) for US$42.7m. It has paid secured creditors there US$42.6m of a total US$68.7m due. It also owed unsecured creditors US$98.4m.
Tanzania: Burundi-based Intracom is planning to build a US$250m integrated cement plant in Kigoma Region. The project is intended to supply cement to the Lake Tanganyika region including Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to the Daily News newspaper. Intracom Country Representative Rubenga Samson said that the company has obtained land in the region and construction is set to start soon. The project is reportedly using a loan from CRDB Bank to finance the project. The plant will have a cement and clinker production capacity of 0.6Mt/yr and 1Mt/yr respectively. Commissioning is scheduled for mid-2024. Intracom has also invested in a fertiliser project in Dodoma.
Twiga Cement boosts sales in 2021
20 April 2022Tanzania: Twiga Cement’s sales were US$194m in 2021, up by 14% year-on-year from US$170m in 2020. The subsidiary of HeidelbergCement recorded a profit for the year of US$38.1m, up by 18% from US$32.2m. During the year, the company recorded its highest ever cement and clinker production and sales volumes.
Tanga Cement boosts sales amid profitable full-year 2021
08 April 2022Tanzania: Tanga Cement’s full-year results show a 9% year-on-year rise in sales to US$99.5m in 2021 from US$91.7m in 2020. Its net profit was US$1.5m, as against a US$903,000 loss in 2020.
The Kenyan Wall Street newspaper has reported that the company replaced a kiln shell at its Tanga cement plant and outsourced mining operations at its quarry during the year.