CEMENT PRODUCTION REACH RECORD HIGH

 Cement domestic production reached a record high 277,000 tonnes in the first quarter of this year, with imports falling to 79,000 tonnes during the same period. 

Quoted on the daily paper “Noticias”, National Director of Industry, Sidonio dos Santos, attributes this growth to the commissioning of new factories across the country. Recently, a new cement factory, Cimento Nacional, was commissioned with an installed annual capacity of 250,000 tonnes. 

Also, Cimentos de Mocambique, the largest cement factory in the country, located in southern province of Maputo, saw its production increase with the inauguration of a new mill with an annual capacity of 400,000 tons. 

As a result, there was a sharp increase in the availability of cement in the market, though domestic production is yet to meet the demands of the market. 

In 2010, total production capacity was estimated at 1.3 million tons of cement per year, which increased to two million tons in 2011. 

Therefore, this translates into a remarkable decrease in imports, said Dos Santos. 

This was witnessed last January, when domestic production reached 79,000 tonnes, while imports settled at just 16,000 tonnes. On the following month, the country produced nearly 90,000 tonnes surpassing the 26,000 tonnes of imported cement. 

Last March imports reached 37,000 tons, far less than the 108,000 tonnes produced across the country. 

'We believe we will meet the government's 5-year plan for cement production, because investors are implementing their projects to increase production and build new factories,” said Dos Santos. 

Currently there are five cement factories in the country. The government expects to inaugurate another three cement factories soon, including GS Cimentos, with an annual capacity of 500,000 tonnes; ADIL Cement (120,000 tonnes); and Maputo Cement and Steel Maputo (130 000 tonnes). All three factories are located in the province of Maputo. 

This led Industry and Trade Minister, Armando Inroga to announce last January that the government is considering imposing a quota system for imported cement later this year, in order to protect Mozambican cement producers. 

He hopes that soon all the cement used in Mozambique will have been produced in the country, and will be sold at competitive prices.

He predicted a fall in cement prices, so that imported cement would no longer be cheaper than the local product.