Zimbabwe: The Cement and Concrete Institute of Zimbabwe has presented a paper to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce suggesting government intervention in the cement industry including banning imported cement. The paper also calls for a protection tariff on imported cement of US$50/t, granting import licences to local producers, cancelling or reviewing all issued permits in circulation in the country and lowering duty on raw materials according to local press.
The country’s cement producers include Lafarge, PPC and Sino Cement. Together they have a cement production capacity of 1.85Mt/yr compared to an estimated demand of 1.17Mt/yr in 2016. Together these cement producers have invested nearly US$185m in cement plants upgrades within the last five years. However, a surplus of cement in the region means that South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and Botswana export cement to Zimbabwe which is threatening the local producers’ investment.