East African Portland Cement Co to build inland container depot

East African Portland Cement Co wants to establish an inland container depot in Athi River to deliver imported raw materials to its plant via the standard-gauge railway.

Managing Director. Simon Peter Ole Nkeri. said the move could ease costs of finished products and make Kenya-made goods affordable in east Africa and competitive on the global stage.

"We heavily rely on imported raw materials like clinker for the manufacture of cement. We are engaging the government on this issue and are optimistic an offloading and loading terminal will be built within an inland container depot in Athi River," he said.

In 2016 Kenya’s six cement producers imported 2Mt of clinker, which was transported by road from the Mombasa port to the Athi River-based cement factories.