Angola: foreign currency availability restricts Secil Lobito's output

The lack of foreign currency availability is impacting on Angolan cement producer, Secil Lobito. The company needs foreign currency to buy clinker for its Lobito works in southern Angola.

During the last three months the factory has been operating with clinker purchased from the Cuanza Sul Cement Factory, which stopped supplying it in late June, and now the plant needs foreign clinker to sustain its production levels.

On the back of such challenges, Secil Lobito cement company’s production and sales is expected to drop 25 per cent to 150,000t this year, said Augusto Miragaia, the company managing director,

Speaking to the Angolan newspaper O País, Miragaia said the company not only found the currency issues contributing to a shortage of raw materials but was also a limiting factor when it came to hiring skilled labour. Other challenges at the moment for the producer include tripled fuel costs and the doubled price of electric power, factors which affect production costs, he said.

Angola currently has five cement plants and an installed capacity of about 8Mta, which in 2015 exceeded demand by 2.7Mt.

The Lobito cement plant is controlled by Secil-Angola – Investimentos e Participações, with a 51 per cent stake. The remaining 49 per cent pertain to Angola’s state-held Empresa Nacional de Cimentos.