East African producers expansion focus

East African producers expansion focus
05 December 2011


Surging demand for cement in the East Africa region is encouraging manufacturers to expand capacity.

Cement manufacturers in Kenya and Tanzania are currently witnessing a rise in consumption. Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows cement consumption in Kenya surged 12 per cent in the nine months to September, hitting 254,000t from 226,000t last year.

Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi have lower consumption of cement but this is likely to increase as infrastructure upgrades gather steam in the coming months.

The EAC region is on a massive infrastructure upgrade, which should push up demand for cement in the coming months, as nations push through investments in roads, ports and bridges, railway construction and energy generation projects.

Lafarge predicts that demand for cement in the region will increase by nine per cent annually over the next decade.

“Current production fulfills the existing demand. However, there is a lot of infrastructure, commercial and residential constructions going on across the region which will increase demand” said Mr Marwa.

The director of economic statistics at the Tanzanian National Bureau of Statistics, Morrice Oyuke, said demand in the region will in the next year be driven by government projects to revamp the agriculture, infrastructure and industrial sectors.

“We expect the demand in Tanzania to grow at 18 per cent if the retail business, infrastructure development and mining investments are sustained,” said Mr Oyuke.
Published under Cement News