Kenya's cement consumption recovers in January

Kenyan cement consumption reached a 17-month-high in January 2020, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). Demand hit 528,904t during the month and marked the second straight month of recovery. The last time consumption was above this level was in August 2018 at 531,119t.

The recovery is expected to relieve pressure on cement producers in the country which has seen new capacity come onstream despite declining demand.

Bamburi Cement’s Managing Director, Seddiq Hassani, described the January figure as a surprise, as December and January are generally low months for the industry.

"I don’t see what could be the driver of such high consumption in January because there were no specific big projects to deliver such a number given even the standard gauge railway project stopped," said Mr Hassani.