Cementos Cienfuegos reverts to tyre burning to keep production going

The Cuban government has ordered domestic cement factory Cementos Cienfuegos to used waste tyres as fuel to save on oil amid a worsening fuel shortages brought on by US sanctions on the Communist island.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel has ordered the cement works, located in the center of the country, to receive an increasing supply of used tyres to burn, the official daily Granma said.

Cuba has been suffering oil shortages since last September, when Trump administration imposed sanctions on ships carrying petroleum to the island from its main fuel supplier Venezuela.

Officials said the cement business was currently burning between 130-150 tyres every day and aims to increase that to 400 a day, with the goal of reducing its consumption of fuel oil by five per cent.

The cement plant is planning on importing 100,000t of crude this year, according to local sources.