Displaying items by tag: Ohorongo Cement
Namibia: The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), a South African development finance institution, says it would like to increase its share in Ohorongo Cement. It has made the statement in response to the acquisition of a majority stake in the cement producer by Singapore’s International Cement Group in March 2019, according to the Namibian Sun newspaper.
The IDC owns a 14% stake in Ohorongo Cement. It says it is committed to Ohorongo Cement and that it wants to support Namibia's indigenisation programme through local ownership. It is talking to other shareholders including the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN), which owns an 11% stake in Ohorongo. The DBN has also expressed concerns on the takeover by International Cement Group.
Namibia: The Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) says it will consult the government about its minority stake in Ohorongo Cement following the purchase of a majority share in the cement producer by Singapore’s International Cement Group. International Cement Group acquired a 69.8% share in Ohorongo Cement from Germany’s Schwenk Namibia in March 2019, according to the Namibian newspaper. The DBN said that it originally invested in Ohorongo Cement to promote economic development in Namibia.
Namibia: Singapore’s International Cement Group has acquired a 100% stake in Schwenk Namibia for US$104m. Schwenk Namibia owns a 69.8% share of Ohorongo Cement and a 100% share of alternative fuel supplier EFF, according to the Business Times newspaper. The deal is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. Previously, a subsidiary of International Cement agreed to build a cement plant Almaty, Kazakhstan as part of a joint venture.
Ohorongo solar plant inaugurated
10 September 2018Namibia: Ohorongo Cement officially inaugurated its 5MW photovoltaic solar plant this week at its head offices at Farm Sargber near Otavi in the Otjozondjupa Region.
Speaking at the opening, Tom Alweendo, Minister of Mines and Energy said that solar electricity generation had grown so exponentially in Namibia since the inception of the Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff programme in 2014.
Kaptau Packaging to supply bags to Ohorongo Cement
11 July 2018Namibia: Kaptau Packaging has signed a deal with Ohorongo Cement to supply 1.2 million bags by the end of August 2018. The agreement is part of a five-year deal, according to the Namibian Sun newspaper. Kaptau Packaging, a local company, manufactures bags in Oshakati.
Namibia: Ohorongo Cement’s captive 5MWAC solar plant is preparing to start commercial operation by the end of June 2018. The unit is equipped with approximately 20,000 crystalline silicon modules mounted on a tracking system and an installed capacity of 6.5MWDC for an output of 5MWAC, according to the Daily Observer newspaper. Once it starts commercial operation it will provide an estimated 14GWhr/yr to the cement plant.
Investors have reached financial close in the project. The site has been developed and built by Germany’s SunEQ and its local partner Hungileni. Local financial partners also include Namibia Infrastructure Finance. Gildemeister Energy Solutions also worked on the project.
Ohorongo Cement opens terminal at Ondangwa
21 August 2017Namibia: Ohorongo Cement has opened a US$0.3m terminal at Ondangwa in the north of the country. Clemens H Kashuupulwa, the governor of Oshana Region, officiated at the event. The depot is intended to target the four northern regions in Namibia as well as export cement to southern Angola. The site follows a Private Public Partnership agreement with TransNamib to lease land at Ondangwa railway station, and is part of the Northern Railway Extension project that extends from Tsumeb to Oshikango. It will distribute various cement types, including CEM II 42.5 N, CEM I 42.5 R, CEM II 32.5 N B-LL for the local market. It will also ship CEM II 42.5 N with Portuguese labelling for Angola.
Ohorongo Cement preparing to build solar plant
08 June 2017Namibia: Ohorongo Cement has held a ground breaking ceremony for a 5MW solar plant at its Sargberg cement plant in North Otavi. The site is being developed and built by Germany’s SunEQ and its local partner Hungileni. The US$7.8m project is scheduled to start operation by the end of 2017.
“Electricity is of paramount importance to our operations and constitutes 25% of our production requirements. We are aware of the country’s precarious energy situation and hence took the decision to tap into the renewable energy resource which our country is endowed with,” said Hans-Wilhelm Schutte, Ohorongo Cement’s managing director.
Ohorongo Cement has signed a 15-year power purchase agreement with SunEQ. Construction of the plant will start once SunEQ has obtained a generation license from the Electricity Control Board.
Ohorongo Cement inaugurates plant upgrade
02 December 2016Namibia: Ohorongo Cement has inaugurated upgrades to its cement plant in Otavi including a composite cement unit and a third packaging line. The US$10.6m expansion is expected to increase the plant’s production capacity to 1Mt/yr. Deputy Minister of Mines and Energy Kornelia Shilunga presided at the event.
The composite cement unit will enable the plant to produce various types of cement. The new packaging line will increase the plant’s packaging rate to 6800bags/hr from 4400bags/hr. Ohorongo Cement has also installed a 2t big bag filling station for special projects, aimed at optimising logistics.
The Namibian Standards Institute also certified Ohorongo Cement’s products at the inauguration for fulfilling the requirements of the Namibian Standard NAMS/EN 197-1:2014. The scope of certification covers five types of cement manufactured by Ohorongo Cement: CEM II A-LL 42.5N, CEM II B-LL 32.5N, CEM II B-V 42.5N, CEM I 42.5R, and CEM I 52.5N. The new certification should allow Ohorongo Cement to enter markets in Zambia and Botswana without additional certification and inspections.
Ohorongo dismisses Whale Rock Cement
08 December 2015Namibia: Ohorongo Cement Company has dismissed the construction of a US$343m plant by competitor Whale Rock Cement as a 'non-entity.'
Ohorongo Cement is, however, worried about the power generation challenges and drought. Marketing and Communications Manager at Ohorongo Cement, Carina Sowden, told local newspaper The Villager that new market players are the least of their fears. "Ohorongo Cement can already provide more than double the cement demand of the Namibian market. The question is raised as to why new investments are not rather focussed on the generation of electricity and energy, and the severe drought the country is currently facing," said Sowden.
"Competition is always a good thing, as long as the playing fields are level. The company has always had competition from both within the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) region as well as Angola and Zambia, where there is ample capacity," said Sowden.
In July 2015 Ohorongo Cement announced that it had invested another US$10.3m into a new composite cement plant, including new silo capacity and a packaging line. "Ohorongo Cement can now produce double the entire demand of Namibia and still absorb additional export volumes. All different types of packaging caters for both the local and export market, which includes 50kg bags, different sizes of big bags and bulk cement. Ohorongo Cement is able to produce various other types of consistent high-quality cement to differentiate itself from other cement manufacturers and more importantly, cater for the needs of its customers as well as for bigger projects. Some examples include the construction of the new container terminal in Walvis Bay, as well as the airport runway and wharf at St Helena Island," said Sowden. The new composite cement plant is expected to be completed by early 2016.
Sowden emphasised that as the Namibian economy is expected to see further growth, Ohorongo Cement has ensured in advance that it has the necessary production capacity to sustainably supply cement volumes for Namibia for the future. "This includes additional bigger projects that might materialise in future. The high-quality limestone deposits close to the Ohorongo Cement plant has been rated as the best available in Namibia and will last for more than 300 years," said Sowden.
Whale Rock Cement entered the Namibian market with its Cheetah Cement brand, which led to tough competition with existing cement suppliers, leading to a price war that drove it out of the market. Its new plant will be 245km from Windhoek and will be the second cement plant in Namibia after Ohorongo Cement, which produces 500,000t/yr.