Tanga Cement posts profit, Tanzania

Tanga Cement posts profit, Tanzania
17 May 2010


Tanzanian cement producer Tanga Cement Company, part of the Holcim group, posted a TZS30bn (US$21m) profit after tax last year.

 “Despite facing many challenges, we made a net profit after tax of TZS30bn which the same as in 2008,” board chairman Charles Naude told the company’s 16th annual general meeting in Dar es Salaam at the weekend.

The board has recommended a dividend of KES179 per share to be paid at the end of this month. The TZS11.4bn to be paid to shareholders is 50 per cent more than what was given in 2008.


“The company faced many challenges in 2009 due to a stress on the market as subsidised cement from Pakistan flooded the market after the government removed suspended duty on cement,” managing director Juerg Fluehmann said.

Poor power supply from the Tanzania Electric Supply Company meant that the company had to rely on backup generators which are expensive. There were about 50 power interruptions each month in 2009.

Poor railway transport from Tanga to the Lake Zone made the transportation of cement more expensive.

In November last year, the company commissioned a KES50bn plant to increase the production capacity to 1.25Mta.

“The volume in the first four months of 2010 grew by seven per cent…. the growing number of construction activities gives us a very positive outlook of the coming months. But a number of things will depend on the government’s policy decisions,” said Mr Fluehmann.

However, the company has indefinitely shelved its US$250m project of generating electricity due to uncertainties in the market.
Published under Cement News