Mozambique is expected to reach production of approximately 4 million tons of cement by 2013 when two more factories are due to start operating, the country’s Minister for Industry and Trade, Armando Inroga said in an interview with Mozambican weekly newspaper, Domingo.
Mozambique currently has five factories, which each year produce 1.3 million tons of cement, and Cimentos de Moçambique, of the Cimentos de Portugal (Cimpor) group, is the biggest producer, with around 600,000 tons per year.
The Cimentos de Moçambique plant, located in Matola, a city close to the capital Maputo, is now installing new equipment to increase production to 1 million tons per year.
As a result of the new factories, the minister said he expected cement prices to fall as of 2013.
Several companies are investing in the cement sector in Mozambique, including Chinese, Portuguese and South African companies.
In August, 2010, Macauhub reported that a group of Chinese businesspeople planned to build a cement plant in the district of Magude, in Maputo province, Southern Mozambique, by investing US$78 million.
Another Chinese company, Bill Wood, plans to set up a cement factory in Cheringoma district, the second of its kind in Sofala province.
As well as Bill Wood, another group of Chinese businesspeople plans to install a cement plant in Cheringoma district.
South African company Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) announced an investment for this year of US$200 million to set up a cement plant.
Several Chinese companies have asked Mozambique’s Ministry for Mining Resources for licenses to prospect and survey for limestone and clay, raw materials that are essential for cement production, namely Africa Great Wall Cement Manufacturer and China – Mozambique Cement & Development Company.
China – Mozambique Cement & Development Company asked the Ministry for Mining Resources for a license to prospect and survey for limestone in the district of Buzi, Sofala province, whilst Africa Great Wall Cement Manufacturer, plans to prospect and survey for white clay in the Magude district of Maputo province.
In its turn, Sogecoa Moçambique has asked for licenses to prospect and survey for gold in the districts of Chifunde and Gorongoza, in the provinces of Tete and Sofala respectively.
The China International Fund and SPI set up CIF-Moz, which carries out prospecting and surveying for clay and iron, and has concluded that conditions are suitable to set up a cement factory in the Matutuine district, an investment of 1.25 billion meticals (US$35 million).
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