Cement prices drop by sh4,000, Kenya

Cement prices drop by sh4,000, Kenya
15 October 2007


Cement prices have dropped by about sh4,000 to an average of sh21,000 per bag due to increased supplies. A 50kg of cement touched an all time high of sh25,000 as a result of a construction boom both in Uganda and neighbouring countries like South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“There is enough stock on the market and there is no reason why the price should be high. We recently launched our new packaging plant and this has improved efficiency,” said M Gagrani, the general manager of Tororo Cement.

He said they were now producing between 2,000 and 2,500 tonnes of cement per day.

Obal Atubo, Hima Cement’s marketing coordinator, said the price had normalised at about sh21,000 because there was no shortage.

Several players in the construction sector say the demand for cement in the region is growing by about 9% annually because of increased construction.

Hima Cement currently produces about 300,000tpa but it plans an additional 480,000 when a new plant starts production in Namanve in 2009.

The company is investing $93m (about sh158b) in the project, which will see the expansion of the plant at Hima and a new one at Namanve.
Published under Cement News