Somaliland: Ethiopian Cement Finds A Booming Market

Ethiopian cement manufacturing factories under the umbrella of the state owned National Cement Industry are experiencing a market boom in Somaliland with heavy commercial trailers ferrying loads of the commodity creating a traffic jams on roads of major towns in the country while other queuing outside major cement factories.

The Ethiopian cement rated as of good quality has monopolized the Somaliland market as a result of edging off cement produced from other neighboring nations like the Oman cement which was the favorite in the construction industry of the country. This follows a series of deliberations between Ethiopian Government & stakeholders in the cement industry who have positively utilized the Eggaga cement producing hills by establishing 5 industrial plants that culminated in increased in production rate hence exporting the surplus to the neighboring nations of Somaliland & Djibouti.

The Ethiopian cement production rate reached a climax at a time when the local cement industry at Berbera could not kick start producing the construction ingredient following uncalled bickering between the state & local residents after the latter turned down a Government proposal of privatizing the industry. This resulted to loss of consuming locally produced cement with the resultant surplus being exported to neighboring nations of the region that subsequently could have narrowed the existing trade imbalance.

The successive regimes that ruled this country could not come up with sound economic policies with respect to rejuvenating Berbera cement industry to operate yet the current regime was elected on a platform of economic reforms but still reluctant to fulfill its pledge due to the existence of conflict of interest from State officials tasked with running the industry.

According to opinion of experts in cement manufacturing it is believed that Berbera cement factory has higher production capacity & a better quality than that produced from Ethiopia & Arab world due to its strategic location to Gulf of Aden that composes the cement with varied sea minerals.

Initially trade in Ethiopian cement was being controlled by Businessmen from Somaliland but of late trade in that merchandize has fully given the mantle to Ethiopian traders who are making a kill in the market to the exclusion of local traders leading to poll of complains being directed in the ministry of trade.

Whereas the Government collects revenue from trade in importing cement, majority of Somalilanders are astonished why can't they produce their own cement locally at Berbera factory. People are questioning what happened to President Silanyo's Government given that initial plans to rejuvenate the industry hit a snag does that means that they can't come up with an alternative one to jump start producing cement locally knowing that the commodity is the backbone of the mushrooming construction currently being witnessed all over the nation.

AUSTRALIA: Cement storage factory approved for Osborne

The $18 million expansion of a cement storage and loading station at Osborne has been approved.

Cement Australia’s proposal would allow five times more cement to be transferred through the Mersey Rd North site, increasing its yearly capacity to 500,000 tonnes.

The nine new 38m tall silos, approved by Port Adelaide Enfield’s Development Assessment Panel last night, would be of similar height to the nearby Torrens Island power station and Penrice Soda plant.

Cement Australia is based in Brisbane and has leased the site near ASC since 1991.

The only objection received by the panel was from Cr Bruce Johansen, who lives about 1km from the site, in North Haven.

Cr Johansen told the panel his main concerns were noise from trucks and ships loading and unloading cement, the height of the silos and cement dust escaping the silos.

He said he was concerned the dust problem around Adelaide Brighton Cement’s factory at Birkenhead could be replicated in Osborne.

Cement Australia project manager Peter Klose told the panel the depot was a completely sealed, pressurised system and there would be no dust problems.

“This facility is purely a receival and storage facility and Cement Australia has a number of these around the country,” Mr Klose said.

Mr Klose said the noise from trucks and the depot would be similar to the sound of an air-conditioning unit for residents closest to the site.

He said the plant would increase truck movements on Mersey Rd North from 100 per day to 180. Two people will be employed there once it is complete.

PHILIPPINES: Holcim defers $550M cement plant investment

The country’s leading cement maker, Holcim Philippines, has put on hold the construction of a new cement plant costing as much as $550 million in Norzagaray, Bulacan, to review leeway in supply chain management arising from the proposed integration in 2015 of Southeast Asian economies.

The new plant was originally targeted to add 2.5 million metric tons to Holcim’s annual production capacity by 2016. As of late last year, Holcim was already shortlisting contractors to build the new plant.

At a recent briefing, however, Holcim Philippines chief executive officer Eduardo Sahagun said the plan to set up a new cement plant was still part of the company’s roadmap. “It’s not a question of will it still be built? It’s a question of when,” Sahagun said, adding that studies were now being conducted to determine the best course of action.

Sahagun said the creation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Economic Community by next year would allow Holcim to absorb excess capacity from units in other markets like Vietnam.

Being a global company and especially with this regional integration, Sahagun said, strategic planning was now being made not just from the perspective of a single country. He said Holcim’s rosy outlook on an upswing in demand trajectory from the Philippines had not changed, adding that it’s the supply equation under review.

Cement market size in the Philippines is about 20 million metric tons a year, with Holcim having a market share of about one-third, Sahagun said.

In terms of labor and power costs as well as coal sources, he said, other neighboring markets like Vietnam offered lower costs. However, he said Holcim Philippines could compensate for higher variable costs by boosting productivity.

IRELAND: CRH faces up to its sins of the past

Albert Manifold was unequivocal yesterday in diagnosing the group’s boomtime errors that led to the decision to sell off a tenth of its poorest-performing assets, with the future of a further 20 per cent up in the air.

“We invested in unsustainable trends. We forgot the core principle of CRH, which is that we used to make businesses better. We invested in bubbles.”

Manifold highlighted that 70 per cent of the business units heading for the door were bought between 2000 and 2006, the binge before the bang. As he spoke alongside his finance director Maeve Carton in London, it did not escape the notice of some that the period the new chief executive had chosen to highlight fell entirely under the rein of former boss Liam O’Mahony.

Myles Lee, Manifold’s immediate predecessor, was O’Mahony’s finance chief for much of that time.

Manifold continued: “Those businesses were cruelly exposed as the crisis hit. We will never again go down the road of buying market trends and growth, instead of understanding how to make those businesses better. At least now we have started to understand what went wrong. ”

So what did go wrong?

CRH, perhaps Ireland’s most conservative listed company, was swept along in the euphoria of unsustainable European housing booms, not least the one that decimated its home country. It lost its focus on returns.

Its portfolio review has directly resulted in the decision to sell 45 business units worth €1.5 billion.The future of others worth more than €3 billion is unclear, although Manifold expects most of those to be retained after “fixing”.

It has taken a €755 million write down on the businesses already tagged for sale. Manifold would not be drawn on the identity of the damned, but an analysis of where the impairments fell gives some clues.

Half of the writedowns are in its European products division, which manufactures accessories and solutions such as wall boards and tiles. The division, according to CRH’s website, is 60 per cent exposed to housebuilding, with extensive operations in the Benelux countries, France, Spain, the UK and Ireland.

Another quarter of the writedown goes to its European materials division, which produces materials such as cement. Half the writedown of its products division, and half of its exposure to housebuilding: just 30 per cent.

The rest of the writedown is accounted for by some “trimming” of its US operations.

CRH’s roll of press releases and announcements for 2000-2006 reveals some of the activity that it may now be looking to redress.

The December 2006 decision to invest €200 million in a cement plant in Drogheda looks, in hindsight, like poor timing. As do O’Mahony’s contemporaneous comments about “an expanding Irish economy and construction sector”.

CRH also acquired DIY chains in countries such as Belgium, another market that is now performing poorly.

Ireland accounts for 1 per cent of the group’s sales, but its proportion of the disposals are likely to be higher. Britain is also heavily represented in the products division that will see the biggest slice of the sell-off.

Drill further into the distribution of the €755 million writedown, however, and you can see that they have their problems too. Just €380 million of the writedown of its subsidiaries is accounted for by goodwill, which exists only on paper. The rest is a writedown on the value of the actual assets themselves.

It could have been a lot worse for CRH given the state of some of its peers. Manifold denied that there was anything strategically “wrong” with the company in the run up to 2006. “We made mistakes. We are only human,” he said.

Confirmation, if it was needed, that the errors were made by people.

BOLIVIA: Quieren reducir importación de cemento

El presidente Evo Morales expresó ayer su deseo de reducir la importación de cemento de Perú y Brasil, mediante la instalación de nuevas plantas y el incremento de la producción de este material de construcción.

"Mi deseo es acá industrialicemos y reduzcamos la importación, pero de emergencias a veces obligados a importar productos, eso poco a poco hay que reducir, ojalá pueda terminar”, manifestó durante una visita a la Cooperativa Boliviana de Cemento, Industrias y Servicios (Coboce) en Capinota, Cochabamba.

El Primer Mandatario señaló que no importa si para disminuir la importación se demanden más fábricas de cemento, ya sean privadas, estatales o cooperativas como Coboce.

Según datos de la Sociedad Boliviana de Cemento (Soboce), la demanda de cemento para este año llegará 3,5 millones de toneladas métricas, cifra superior registrada el anterior año que llegó a 3,3 millones de toneladas.

Morales también destacó sobre un crédito para la ampliación de la fábrica de cemento de Irpa Irpa, en Cochabamba, con el que se incrementará la producción de 24.000 bolsas de cemento por día hasta 75.000 bolsas.

TANZANIA:Twiga Cement plans new marketing strategies

THE Tanzania Portland Cement Company (TPCC) plans to review its marketing strategies to improve distribution and sales of its products in the country and beyond.

TPCC Managing Director Alfonso Rodriguez told a news conference in Dar es Salaam over the weekend that it was aimed at coping up with ever rising competition in the market.

He said that the company organises dinner gala annually during which agents and distributors meet with other members of the firm’s staff to share views and experiences.

“Our goal is to improve the performance of our business in the market,” he said. He said last year, the firm’s market share dropped by 20 per cent.

“We are keen to recover the lost market share,” he stressed. He further said that the Dar es Salaam based cement firm saw its net income dwindling by over one third to 19bn/- in the first six months that ended last June in 2013.

Mr Rodriguez underscored that the poor results were attributed to unregulated imports mostly from Pakistan as well as power blues following the collapse of the manufacturer’s electric transformer that cut the number of operational mills from five to three.

He noted that the firm’s plans to build its own power plant to reduce blues during the production process while boosting the cement production.

Mr Rodriguez applauded the government’s move against importation of untaxed cement that is selling cheaply in the market, subjecting the local manufacturers to unfair competition.

TPCC Sales and Marketing Director, Ekwabi Majigo said that the emergence of new manufacturers in the cement industry would make the firm come up with new business strategies in order to remain at the top of strong and giant producers of cement in the country.

INDONESIA: SEMEN SALES RISE 2014

The country’s biggest cement producer, PT Semen Indonesia, is targeting 8 percent sales increase this year and allocating up to Rp 5 trillion (US$429 million) of capital expenditure (capex) to help enhance production capacity.

Semen Indonesia corporate secretary Agung Wiharto said Monday that the company expected its sales volume to grow 8 percent from 27.8 million tons last year.

“We will enhance production at our existing facilities to achieve the target,” he said.

The publicly listed company aims to produce 31.8 million tons of cement, up by 6 percent compared to 30 million tons last year. It has set a long-term target of 40 million tons of cement in 2017.

This year’s additional production is expected to come from the Dumai cement mill, which, when it is operational, is projected to produce 900,000 tons of cement per annum. The company also commenced the operation of Tonasa V facilities in Pangkep, South Sulawesi, last week. The factory produce 3 million tons of cement once fully operational.

Agung said that the company would disburse Rp 4-5 trillion of capex this year. The company will allocate about Rp 3 trillion to finance the construction of new facilities in Padang, West Sumatra, and Rembang, Central Java. The remaining funds will be used to enhance existing production, build two new packing plants and finance operations.

He said that the total investment of the two new facilities would be Rp 7.2 trillion, with the construction of the Padang facility designed to conclude in 2016 while Rembang would be in 2017.

Semen Indonesia currently owns 22 cement mills and 21 packing plants. It also has 11 special ports, one of which is located in Vietnam.

Semen Indonesia, according to a written statement published on Sunday, managed to book Rp 24.5 trillion in revenue last year, which is a 25 percent increase compared to Rp 19.5 trillion recorded in 2012.

Semen Indonesia booked Rp 5.37 trillion in profits in 2013, up by 10.8 percent compared to Rp 4.84 trillion in 2012.

Semen Indonesia managed to secure 44 percent of the country’s cement market in 2013, a significant increase compared to 41 percent in 2012.

The company recorded an increase in its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of Rp 8.1 trillion last year, increasing by 17.9 percent compared to Rp 6.8 trillion the previous year.

Semen Indonesia president director Dwi Soetjipto said that 2013 was actually a challenging year for the company with the fuel price hike and base electricity prices, which it managed by carrying out operational efficiency.

“The company’s move to build a packing plant in Sorong [West Papua] also helped to reduce packaging costs,” he said in the statement.

Last year, the company trimmed down packaging costs from Rp 33,078 per ton of cement to Rp 29,430 per ton.

Semen Indonesia is currently working with state-owned steel company Krakatau Steel on a joint venture to produce slag powder — a raw material for cement production.

The joint venture company, to be called Krakatau Semen Indonesia (KSI), will build a Rp 440 billion slag powder plant in Ciwandan, Cilegon, Banten.

The construction of the slag powder plant, which will have a production capacity of 750,000 tons per year, will commence early this year, with commercial production expected to begin in 2016. The facility will supply material to produce Portland cement, an ingredient of concrete.

NIGERIA: CPAN, CMAN disagree on Nigeria’s cement production status

CEMENT Producers Association of Nigeria, CPAN, is disputing the claim of the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, CMAN, that Nigeria had attained self sufficiency in production of cement.

CPAN in a statement by its chairman, Mr. David Iweta, said: ‘’Current cement production in Nigeria is under 50 per cent of nation’s requirement and in countries that have attained self adequacy in cement production, cement is sold at N500 per bag, contrary to the N1,800 sold in Nigeria.

‘’It is strange for a group to deceive the Federal Government to believe that Nigeria has attained self sufficiency in the cement production when the product is selling foa above 100 per cent and 150 per cent as it is sold in other countries that have attained sufficiency like China, Taiwan, Turkey, India, Mexico, Spain, Greece, Romania and Norway, where cement is sold at N500 per bag of cement,” CPAN asserted.

The group said, ‘’The misleading information by CMAN to the Federal Government has resulted in pushing locally manufactured cement from the expected price of about N500 per bag to N1,800 per bag.”

It alleged that the Federal Government pushed up duty, levy and bills paid on cement import to between 35 and 45 per cent because of the half truths by a cabal, while all cement import licenses earlier granted by government were suspended.

‘’As at today, there is only one cement license holder in the name of IBETO cement that is importing cement. This is because they took Federal Government to court and obtained judgment in their favour. By this, they are to import cement till 2017, while others have withheld action against the Federal Government so as give room for the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to succeed. The action of CMAN has shut the doors to other players into the industry,” the group stated.

NIGERIA: The cement war alternative view

THE debate over the quality of cement being sold in Nigeria cannot be ignored, owing to the importance of cement in building and construction. Cement is a chemical binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. With all these qualities, cement is no doubt, a central factor in building and construction. It serves as the major framework which all other materials cling to.

On one hand, a coalition of civil society groups and professional bodies in the construction industry are set to launch a major campaign for what they call the standardisation of cement production and importation in Nigeria, on the grounds that government is turning a blind eye to the scourge of substandard cement in the country.

The coalition further outlined its planned activities that included getting the National Assembly to probe manufacturers and importers for compromising standards; enlisting the Consumer Protection Council, CPC, to help with regulation, enforcing the National Building Code and enlisting the Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria, COREN, in fighting sub-standard cement. The coalition of civil society groups also planned to confront the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, CMAN, for what it called the poor standard of local and imported cement.

On the other hand, most of the cement manufacturers, under the auspices of CMAN, deny the accusation levelled against it by the coalition, stating that they have all along complied with conventional practice in the cement industry. The nation’s leading manufacturer of cement, Dangote Cement Plc, however, toes a somewhat different line; one that has pitched the company in-between both contrasting assertions.

While Dangote Cement Plc believes that some cement manufacturers and importers deal in substandard cement, it strongly disagrees that it is among such companies, on the grounds that it has strived to maintain its brand name and leading position in the market by complying with global standards. Meanwhile, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, has debunked the accusation levelled against it by the coalition of civil society groups, while affirming its stand on infractions and those who contravene the law and go contrary to set standards in the Nigerian market.

In response, SON stressed that there was no substandard cement in Nigeria, explaining that it was a matter of application of cement in practice. SON explained that it had long been in contact with the National Assembly over far-reaching matters as evident from records of its activities which are well known, and reminded that it had all along been working closely with the CPC and professional bodies like COREN, while it had continued to make progress in enforcing the national building code.

A question which one is tempted to ask is why the coalition of civil society groups did not approach SON with their alleged findings and discontentment, rather than going public with the matter; a situation that may have escalated the controversy and misinformed an aspect of the populace.

The controversy is not a complicated one, though there has been misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the true situation. To start with, Nigeria does not produce or trade in substandard cement. SON has ensured this through its tight supervision and regulation. The various types of cement available in the country are only being misapplied in some instances and not even in all cases.

Out of the three major grades of cement traded globally, namely 32.5N/m2 42.5N/m2 and 52.5N/m2, two main ones are traded in most countries, including Nigeria. These are 32.5 N/m2 and 42.5 N/m2. The 32.5 grade cement is used for lighter-weight construction such as plastering walls, for pavements, culverts, among other uses, while 42.5 is used to erect buildings, flyovers and other more solid structures.

The notion is that 32.5N/m2 is applied for usage where 42.5N/m2 is required, thus compromising human safety. This revelation has sent shockwaves round the industry and the nation at large, with associations like the Block Moulders Association of Nigeria, BMAN, calling on the government to verify the claim. The appropriate authorities should not hesitate to address this situation.

Thankfully, SON is on hand to address the situation. It must, however, be pointed out that the regulation, monitoring and attempts to ensure strict compliance to standards are not for SON alone. Indeed, SON has been in the eye of the media, and rightly so. SON must be commended for its herculean efforts in upgrading national quality infrastructure such as the enumeration of standards, upgrading of testing laboratories like the one which offers testing of building materials in Enugu, among other quality infrastructure which SON has put in place.

It is noteworthy to state that 32.5 is not a bad grade for cement. It has served and will continue to serve many purposes. However, the right type of cement must be used for the right type of construction. The advantage which the higher grade of cement has over the lower is that the higher (42.5) can perform most functions which the lower (32.5) can perform, but such is not obtainable when the reverse is the case. I have travelled far and wide and the practice is the same.

It is also imperative for the decision makers to take a stand on the cement dispute, with a view of taking a decision that is in the best interest of Nigerians.

It is only appropriate and fair to all parties concerned, that we wait for an expeditious outcome of the technical committee meeting on the review of standards. This will provide the country and all stakeholders with the right guidelines for sustained activity in Nigeria’s cement industry, keeping in mind, the overall well being of the economy and its people.

NIGERIA: Coalition raises alarm over artificial scarcity of cement

A coalition of civil society and professional bodies, on Sunday, raised alarm that some cement manufacturers and their dealers were tactically withdrawing the products from the market to cause artificial scarcity and drive up the price nationwide.

It would be recalled that the coalition recently raised alarm over the prevalence of low grade 32.5 cement in the country. This led the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, to inaugurate a technical committee to review the standard of cement used in the country, with a view to standardising the products.

The coalition spokesperson, Mr. Tunde Ojo, told journalists in Lagos that the current market disruptive move by the unpatriotic cement manufacturers was aimed at slowing down SON’s resolve to standardise the product.

According to him, the Federal Government should move in very fast and checkmate the activities of stakeholders in the industry who are hoarding the commodity.

He said: “They do not really care about the lives of ordinary Nigerians but their profits. It is very unfortunate that this is happening in this part of the world. The activities of these unpatriotic groups have now resulted in the hike of price of the product in various parts of the country and if not quickly cautioned or checked, this will lead to an abnormal price increase for cement.”

TANZANIA: EAPCC to Expand Into Tanzania

EAST Africa Portland Cement plans to venture into Tanzania by June as the market in Kenya competitive, managing director Kephar Tande has said.

EAPCC which has been hit hard by competition and wrangles among shareholders and on its board leading to a 13 per cent decline in local market share said it has also paused its business in South Sudan as it assesses the situation there. The cement maker had recently started operations and distributorship in South Sudan but has had to stop operations there after the attempted coup in December caused chaos in that country.

"We are looking at Northern Tanzania and have already identified a partner situated in Arusha," Tande said on Friday during a media briefing with the new company chairman Bill Lay.

Tande noted that the Kenyan market had very stiff competition amid less demand and more supply.

EAPCC said it now has about 21 per cent market share from 34 per cent three years ago adding that the entrance of three new cement manufacturing over the last three years has eaten into its share.

Tande said the recent wrangling among shareholders and some of the directors over the control and operations of the company had also "distracted" the firm from its core business, thus contributing also to the drop in market share.

Apart from sourcing for new markets, Tande said the firm will also upgrade its factory equipment and open a new factory to increase capacity to boost business.

BOLIVIA: Demanda de cemento llegará a 3,5M de toneladas en 2014

La demanda de cemento en Bolivia llegará este año a 3,5 millones de toneladas; mientras en 2013 fue de 3,3 millones de toneladas, informó el gerente corporativo de Operaciones y Comercialización de la Sociedad Boliviana de Cemento (Soboce), René Sánchez.

“En 2013 la demanda de cemento ha alcanzado los 3,3 millones de toneladas de cemento y se estima que durante 2014 la demanda de cemento podría superar los 3,5 millones de toneladas”, informó el ejecutivo de Soboce.

La temporada alta de demanda de este producto se inicia entre agosto y septiembre de cada año y concluye en enero de la siguiente gestión, mes en el que comienzan las lluvias, dijo. Con esos detalles, recordó que al momento el mercado nacional se encuentra abastecido de cemento en 100%.El año pasado la participación de mercado de Soboce llegó aproximadamente al 48% y se espera que este año el porcentaje sea similar, señaló Sánchez, tras una conferencia en la que se lanzó una nueva marca de productos pretensados, Sobopret.

Crédito

El ejecutivo de esa firma consideró que con el crédito de vivienda de interés social, que tiene nuevas tasas mínimas y máximas, la demanda de cemento crecerá más porque mucha gente buscará refaccionar su inmueble o habrá más construcciones en el país.

La directora ejecutiva de la Autoridad de Supervisión del Sistema Financiero (Asfi), Lenny Valdivia, anticipó en estos días que el sector de la construcción crecerá en esta gestión por la demanda para acceder a un crédito de vivienda de interés social, que está destinado también para la remodelación, ampliación y cualquier obra de mejora de una vivienda unifamiliar.

Se inició queja ante la ANH

La Sociedad Boliviana de Cemento (Soboce) elevó una queja formal ante la Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos para que instruya a Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) atender su requerimiento de provisión de gas natural para una nueva planta.

El gerente corporativo de Operaciones y Comercialización de Soboce, René Sánchez, señaló que la nueva planta se construirá en Yacuses, de la provincia Germán Busch de Santa Cruz, la cual demandará una inversión de US$160 millones y requeriría 10 millones de pies cúbicos de gas por día.

“Como hasta la fecha no hemos recibido una respuesta positiva al requerimiento que ya tiene 18 meses con Yacimientos, hemos iniciado algunas acciones para conseguir el gas”, señaló. La provisión debe ser a través del ducto de exportación de gas a Brasil, al que se le tiene que construir un ramal y ello se debe coordinar con YPFB.

MALI: Nouvelle cimenterie de Dio : un projet d'envergure

Fruit de la coopération entre le Mali et le Maroc, l’usine dont la première a été posée par le président Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta et le Roi Mohamed VI va produire 500 000 tonnes de ciment par an. Il s’agit d’un investissement de 19,6 milliards de Fcfa

Bonne nouvelle pour le marché du ciment. Notre pays aura désormais une nouvelle cimenterie. Elle sera construite par l’entreprise marocaine, Ciments de l’Afrique (CIMAF). Ce sera la septième unité du genre construite par l’entreprise marocaine en Afrique subsaharienne, après celles de la Côte d’Ivoire, de la Guinée, du Cameroun, du Burkina Faso, du Gabon et de la République démocratique du Congo.

Le coup d’envoi symbolique des travaux de construction de l’usine a été donné samedi par le président de la République, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta et le Roi du Maroc Mohamed VI en visite dans notre pays. L’événement a donné lieu à une grande fête populaire dans la commune rurale de Dio où sera implantée l’usine. Précisons que Dion se trouve à quelques kilomètres de la ville de Kati.

La cérémonie a mobilisé plusieurs membres du gouvernement, dont le ministre de l’Industrie et des Mines, Boubou Cissé. Les autorités administratives et locales et les notabilités du cercle de Kati et de la commune de Dio ont également pris part à la fête.

Cette usine sera la deuxième unité du genre construite à Dio, après celle de l’entreprise indienne Diamon Cements. La future cimenterie de Dio est un investissement de 19,6 milliards de Fcfa.

Les travaux de construction porteront sur la réalisation d’une usine d’une capacité de 500 000 tonnes de ciment par an, des bâtiments administratifs et commerciaux. L’usine sera construite sur un espace de 10 hectares. Les travaux dureront 18 mois. Ils consisteront en la construction d’une usine équipée d’une unité de broyage à boulet d’une capacité de 70 tonnes par heure et équipée d’un séparateur dynamique et d’un filtre à manches. Un atelier d’ensachage et d’expédition équipé de deux ensacheuses rotatives et une bouche de vrac complètent cet assemblage. Outre le marché national, l’usine va approvisionner les pays de la sous-région en ciment « Made in Mali », ont expliqué les responsables de Ciments de l’Afrique.

La maquette de la future infrastructure présente un ouvrage en conformité avec son temps. L’entreprise inscrit ses actions dans la protection et la sauvegarde de l’environnement, assurent ses responsables. Toujours selon eux, Ciments de l’Afrique tient cette rigueur de Ciment de l’Atlas (CIMAT), la maison mère qui exporte ainsi ses compétences et son savoir-faire hors du royaume chérifien.

L’ambition de CIMAT est d’être un opérateur cimentier reconnu dans un secteur aussi stratégique pour le développement, un acteur professionnel et compétitif diversifiant l’offre et enrichissant le tissu industriel.

La politique de l’entreprise est fondée sur la production, la commercialisation et le développement des matériaux et des services innovants pour ses clients et le secteur du BTP, en maintenant d’excellentes performances opérationnelles, environnementales, économiques et financières compatibles avec ses principes volontairement adaptés pour le développement durable.

A travers ce projet, CIMAT entend conquérir les marchés de la sous-région via un service de qualité. La responsabilité pour le développement durable vise à combiner la rentabilité et la performance économique avec la protection de l’environnement et de l’amélioration de la qualité de vie pour les générations présentes et futures.

Après avoir écouté toutes ces explications et les retombés que va apporter le projet, le président de la République, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta et le Roi Mohamed VI ont ordonné les premiers coups de pèle de manière originale. Les deux personnalités ont simplement levé les drapeaux des deux pays. Un ordre bien exécuté par deux opérateurs qui ont aussitôt mis en marche les deux pelleteuses, synonyme du démarrage officiel des travaux.

Le ministre de l’Industrie et des Mines, Dr Boubou Cissé, a salué cette initiative qui, de son point de vue, contribuera substantiellement à améliorer les conditions de vie des habitants de la zone à travers la création d’emplois et de richesse. « C’est un projet très important. Son impact sur la population sera incontestable. Il va créer environ 1000 emplois.

Cela sous-entend la création de revenus pour les populations et donc de la richesse pour beaucoup de familles. Le Mali est riche en ressources naturelles, mais nous manquons des capitaux et surtout de la compétence. En créant cette unité, le Maroc contribue à innover et à créer les conditions d’exploitation de nos richesses », a commenté Boubou Cissé, tout en remerciant le président de la République et son illustre hôte pour leur soutien à l’initiative.