Displaying items by tag: Middle East and Africa

The Gambia: Jah Oil has announced the imminent arrival of a 53,000t cement shipment in Banjul by 4 June 2025 to address the national shortage and maintain a new, lower price, according to the Foroyaa newspaper. Managing director Momodou Hydara said the supply will stabilise the market, with smaller 4000t shipments already underway to meet immediate demand.

Hydara denied internal issues, calling the disruption “a normal phenomenon that can happen to any business.” He said “Our company has sufficient capacity to continue meeting national demand.” He blamed global disruptions, citing President Trump’s tariffs on Vietnamese cement that redirected US demand to Egypt and Türkiye, Jah Oil’s main suppliers. “All of a sudden, the supplier couldn't catch up with that competition and informed us about a huge increase in price,” Hydara said.

He added that Jah Oil alerted the Gambian government early but received no immediate response. He said the company later explained that global pricing pressures and the Dalasi’s depreciation against the US Dollar made the existing price unsustainable.

Egypt: South Valley Cement recorded net losses after tax of US$6.4m in the first quarter of 2025, up by 586% year-on-year from US$0.9m in the first quarter of 2024. The company’s sales rose to roughly US$13.3m in the first quarter of 2025, up from about US$6.6m in the same period of 2024.

UAE: Emsteel has signed a strategic partnership with Finnish company Magsort to produce decarbonised cement using steel slag. The agreement follows an industrial-scale pilot at its Al Ain plant that used 10,000t of steel slag to produce low-carbon cement. To meet growing local demand, Emsteel will build an integrated line at the Al Ain facility to process steel residue from its Abu Dhabi steel plant.

Morocco: Cement sales rose by 10% year-on-year to 4.5Mt from January to April 2025, according to the Finance Ministry's Department of Financial Studies and Forecasts (DEPF).

In April 2025, sales jumped by 32% year-on-year, driven by good performance in all delivery segments.

Kenya: The Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK) has called for urgent measures to tackle the rising presence of substandard cement in the market, amid a reported increase in building collapses, according to The Eastleigh Voice newspaper. The institution has called for audits of manufacturers, enforcement of verification and random sampling from hardware stores and distribution centres.

In a statement, IEK said bags labelled as 50kg were often lighter, some weighing as little as 45kg. Its members had recorded compressive strength reductions of up to 25% in concrete made with some cement brands on the market, even those bearing the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) mark of quality.

Ghana: Cement manufacturers have failed to comply with a Cement Manufacturing Development Committee (CMDC) directive to declare ex-factory prices for 50kg cement bags by 23 May 2025, in line with the Ghana Standards Authority Legislative Instrument 2491, which mandates the reporting of prices every month.

CMDC chair Alex Dodoo confirmed on 27 May 2025 that no firm had complied and said the committee would hold an emergency meeting to consider sanctions. “The law is clear, and we will not hesitate to apply the necessary penalties,” he said.

Ethiopia: Ethiopia has increased its cement production capacity to 20Mt/yr following the inauguration of Pioneer Cement’s expansion project in Dire Dawa city, according to The Ethiopian News Agency.

Minister of Mines Habtamu Tegen said that the country has been increasing its infrastructure and building large cement plants such as Lemi Cement to meet national demand, and that it was also commissioning four coal processing plants to further increase supply, including to neighbouring markets.

The Pioneer Cement expansion was reportedly the result of a partnership between Ethiopian and Chinese investors. Pioneer Cement general manager Leon Zone said that the factory had been operational for 16 years, and that the expansion project had increased the plant’s production capacity by 0.6Mt/yr and created 550 direct jobs.

UAE: Manufacturing conglomerate Exeed Industries has signed a memorandum of understanding with sustainable building materials producer Partanna Oasis to explore local production of carbon-negative cement alternatives in the UAE. Both parties will plan to establish a brine conversion facility, a tolling facility and a cement plant to commercialise Partanna’s products in the UAE. The two companies will collaborate on certification, performance testing and regulatory alignment.

Ghana: CBI Ghana and joint venture partner Heidelberg Materials have commissioned the ‘world’s largest’ calcined clay plant in Ghana, according to an announcement by the German producer. The plant has a capacity of 400,000t/yr of calcined clay and uses local raw materials to reduce reliance on imported clinker.

Hakan Gurdal, member of the managing board of Heidelberg Materials, said “Based on calcined clay technology, we can now extend our offering of innovative, high-quality cement products, while reducing CO₂ emissions and utilising the rich local resources. The project has created over 300 local jobs."

Nigeria: BUA CEO Abdul Samad Rabiu said that the company has agreed with Dangote Group to freeze the price of cement for retailers involved in President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda projects.

“We have decided that we are going to freeze the price of cement for any contractor that is involved with the Renewed Hope project.” Rabiu said. He added “There will be no increase for the foreseeable future.”

The Premium Times newspaper reported that it was not able to obtain a confirmation from Dangote Group about the price freeze.