Displaying items by tag: Zambia

Zambia: Commerce minister Miles Sampa says that the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) is a threat to the planned commissioning of the US$400m Dangote Cement plant in Ndola in July 2014.

ZEMA recently directed the halting of construction of the plant. Sampa said that ZEMA needs to partner with the government in facilitating the much-needed foreign investments to help the country's economy grow.

"If ZEMA looks to stop progress then something is wrong somewhere," Sampa said. "Why in the world, after US$400m has been invested, would ZEMA decide to write to the investor to stop the construction? ZEMA approved the project in 2011."

According to local sources, ZEMA ordered a halt to the construction of the Dangote cement plant over a dispute on tapping water from the nearby Kafubu River. ZEMA contended that tapping water from the river was not in the initially approved Environmental Impact Assessment report when it approved the planned construction of the plant.

"If Dangote break the rule, let's treat them like any other company; the people here need jobs," Sampa said. "Let's not just dance to the tune of those who do not have the interest of the people here. I am appealing to ZEMA in the next seven days to formally write to advise Dangote to continue with the construction or to stop and that should be done within the law."

Sampa said that the new plant would increase competition among cement producers and consequently reduce the cost of the commodity in the country. "The construction industry is eagerly waiting for commercial production and distribution of Dangote cement products at competitive market prices," said Sampa.

Zambia: Zambezi Portland Cement (ZPC) increased its cement production by 5% to 475,000t/yr in 2013 from 452,000t/yr in 2012. ZPC sales and marketing manager Isaac Ngoma said that ZPC had seen its output grow by 25% year-on-year to nearly 70,000t for the first two months of 2014. ZPC has expansion projects planned for 2014 and the company also intends to increase its mining and aggregate sales.

Zambia: Lafarge Zambia is building a cement depot in Chipata District, Eastern Province with an investment of US$0.7m. The depot will have a storage capacity of 3000t. Emmanuel Rigaux, managing director of Lafarge Zambia, said that Lafarge had decided to build the depot due to high demand for cement. However, he added that this new storage capacity would not be enough for the whole province and that the company would increase its number of warehouses depending on demand.

Zambia: Dangote Cement plans to commission a US$400m cement plant in the city of Ndola in July 2014 with a production capacity of 3000t/day.

The company expects to produce 1.0 - 1.2Mt/yr of cement when it is commissioned, which will increase Zambia's total cement production to 2.5 - 2.7Mt/yr. Zambia currently has a cement production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr from Lafarge's plants in Lusaka and Ndola and Zambezi Portland's plant in Ndola.

Senior general manager for Dangote Projects, Anand Kameshwar said that installation of major equipment at the plant by China's Sinoma Engineering was nearly complete. "Most of the major equipment has been installed and the project is on course and should be complete by July 2014," Kameshwar said, adding that Dangote would contribute significantly in mitigating cement shortages that have resulted from high cement demand due to construction activities. Once operational, the cement factory will create 700 new jobs.

Dangote is also constructing a 30MW power sub-station that is expected to commission in May 2014. "This facility will provide electricity to the cement plant, which is expected to consume 25MW of power per day," Kameshwar said. The cement factory will also open up other avenues for Dangote to increase its investments in Zambia.

Zambia: Lafarge Zambia plc has commissioned a US$5m 600,000t/yr aggregate plant with the Zambian Government that is expected to create 70 new direct jobs.

Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Emmanuel Chenda, said that national roads infrastructure programmes such as the Link Zambia 8,000 and Pave Zambia 2000 require readily available cement and aggregate and the plant will ensure there is adequate supply for the project to be implemented effectively.

"The huge demand for cement and aggregates that the construction industry provides cannot be overstated. The market is ready and all you need is tap into it by way of increasing commercial circulation of the products at competitive market rates," said Chenda. He disclosed that Government has formulated mid-term policies and strategies to address constraints in the manufacturing sector such as high cost of production, limited access to long-term finance and weak linkages. The policies will be implemented over the next five years in line with the revised Sixth National Development Plan.

Lafarge Zambia chief executive officer Emmanuel Rigaux said that the aggregate plant can also be adjusted in terms of capacity, which will enable the company to supply more of the product as required.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement intends to reach a total cement production capacity of 50Mt/yr by 2016 which will make it Africa's largest cement producer. The company's chief executive, DVG Edwin, summarised production projects by the Nigeria-based cement producer: "Our plant in Senegal will soon be producing cement and our South African venture, Sephaku Cement, is well on track to open in early 2014. These two plants will be our first production ventures outside Nigeria as we aim to become Africa's leading supplier of cement," said Edwin.

Edwin revealed that construction work is underway at Mugher, Ethiopia for a 2.5Mt/yr cement plant. Operation is scheduled to begin in October 2015 at a 3Mt/yr gas-fired plant in Mtwara, Tanzania. Cement production is expected to start in mid-2014 at a 1.5Mt/yr in Ndola, Zambia. In Cameroon a 1.5Mt/yr grinding plant will be completed in the first half of 2014 and an integrated 1.5Mt/yr cement plant is expected to begin production in the second quarter of 2016. A 1.5Mt/yr cement plant in South Sudan and a 1.5Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Kenya are both set to become operational in 2016.

Along the coast of West Africa Dangote nears completion of import facilities to receive and bag bulk cement produced in Nigeria and Senegal. Additional import facilities in Sierra Leone are due to begin by the end of 2013 or early 2014.

In Liberia Edwin said that the order for equipment has been made for an import facility in Freeport Monrovia. Imports into Liberia are expected to commence in early 2015. The company plans to build a 1.5Mt/yr grinding plant in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, with operations projected to begin in early 2015. In Ghana, the company plans to open 1.5Mt/yr grinding plants in Tema and Takoradi by early 2015. Finally, Dangote cement has recently announced its intention to build an integrated 1.5Mt/yr plant in Niger.

Zambia: The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) of Zambia has started a study to investigate cement price rises in South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania and Zambia. The four sub-Saharan countries were chosen by the CCPC as a case study because they had similar companies producing and selling cement locally according to CCPC public relations officer Hanford Chaaba.

"We have been monitoring this situation concerning price changes for quite some time now and a study has been focused on these countries because the same producers of cement in Zambia have established factories in South Africa, Tanzania and Botswana," said Chaaba. He added that a similar study is also being conducted for the sugar and poultry industries.

Zambia: Zambezi Portland Cement has reduced its export sales by 50% to cope with increased domestic demand in Zambia. According to sales and marketing manager Isaac Ngoma, the company had been exporting more than 14,000t/month to neighbouring countries. Export sales will now be limited to 7000t/month.

"For us, the Zambian market is our first priority and only the excess product is sold abroad, so with demand reaching an all time high locally, we see little sense in continuing to service foreign markets while starving the local market," said Ngoma.

Zambezi Portland Cement has a cement production capacity of 1400t/day and it is currently producing at over 95% of its installed capacity.

Zambia: Dangote Cement is set to open another US400m cement plant in Lusaka in 2014, bringing its total investment in Zambia to US$800m according to executive director Monica Musonda.

"The opening of the Dangote Ndola plant, which is situated in Masaiti, will make Dangote the biggest cement producer in the country producing 3000t/day," said Musonda. "The local cement production scenario will never be the same again with the coming of Dangote, which has now entered the Zambian market." She added that plans to open another 1.5Mt/yr capacity plant in the capital city after the completion of the Ndola plant in 2014 have reached an advanced stage.

China's Sinoma International Engineering has been hired to build the new Dangote plant. The chosen contractor would be announced once the construction process takes off. Musonda said, that like the Dangote Ndola plant, the Lusaka plant would be constructed using the latest, environmentally-friendly technologies that are commonly available in Europe and the United States.

Dangote's regional commercial manager Venkie Srinivasan said in an interview that his company expected a 40-45% share of the Zambian cement market after the opening of the Ndola plant in the third quarter of 2014. Srinivasan said that Dangote Industries in Zambia was set to meet the demand on the local construction and mining sector. He added that any excess cement would be able to compete favourably in the regional export market, including Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Elsewhere, Zambia's Southern Province permanent secretary Chileshe Mulenga announced that a consortium of Indian investors are planning to invest US$10bn in various industries in the region including the construction of a new cement plant.

Zambia: Cement production has stopped at Zambezi Portland Cement in Ndola due to a dispute over the company's shareholder structure, according to The Times of Zambia newspaper.

A senior source at the cement producer said that management officials were locked out of the plant on 24 December 2012. He added that the halt in operations was due to ongoing issues regarding the ownership of Zambezi Portland Cement. Further checks by the newspaper revealed that the plant is surrounded by security personnel. Zambia Portland Cement has a production capacity of 1300t/day.