DR Congo orders cement imports

The Minister of Foreign Trade of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jean Lucien Bussa, has ordered the import of 100,000t of cement from the Republic of Congo as domestic supply falls short of volumes needed, according to Desk Eco.

“Following our discussions on 24 August 2020 in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, I make it my duty to inform you that I have just authorised the import, into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, of 100,000 tonnes of grey cement from the Republic of Congo. This is a derogation from the restrictive measure on imports of grey cement and clinker in the western part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This quota is annual and can be improved according to the evolution of the internal economic situation ", wrote Jean Lucien Bussato his colleague in the Republic of Congo.

According to the Minister of Foreign Trade, this batch of imported cement will just "transit" through Kinshasa and is intended "to meet the supply needs of the DRC's internal market, in particular Grand Equateur, Grand Kasaï and La Great Eastern Province ”.

However, cement producers in the west of the country have denied the domestic industry is under-producing. “All the cement companies are under production in the DRC. Just one example, PPC BARNET is 1.2Mta of cement of production capacity. Why import when we can produce in the DRC?,” according to an industry source.

Utilisation rates of cement capacity are currently at 43.9 per cent, according to the Central Bank of Congo, below the average due to the COVID-19 pandemic.