Displaying items by tag: Republic of Congo

Congo: The Ministry of Industrial Development and Private Sector Promotion is conducting a special forum on the cement industry in the Republic of Congo in Brazzaville on 18 – 19 August 2025, with the aim being to make the sector more competitive in the global market. Minister Antoine Thomas Nicéphore Fylla Saint Eudes will lead proceedings.

Saint Eudes said “Congo is preparing for its entry into the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), scheduled in a few years. Thanks to its significant reserves of limestone and clay, our ambition is to make it a cement hub for the sub-region.”

Nigeria: Dangote Cement sold 13.4Mt of cement during the first half of 2023. Its sales volumes outside Nigeria were 5.4Mt, up by 12% year-on-year from 4.9Mt in the first half of 2022. The producer noted 'robust demand' in Ethiopia, the Republic of Congo, Senegal and Zambia. It reported revenues worth US$1.23bn in the first half of 2023, up by 17% from first-half 2022 levels. KOGI Reports News has reported that the producer's profit after tax rose by 3.8% in the half, to US$232m.

Chief executive officer Arvind Pathak said "Dangote Cement delivered positive results in the first half of the year. Our Nigeria operations achieved a 23% quarter-on-quarter recovery in sales during the second quarter of 2023, which was impacted by the general elections and the 'cash crunch.' However, the steep currency devaluation in mid-June slowed this volume recovery and increased already inflated operating costs." He added “We will continue to focus on our strategic growth priorities, hinged on our vision of transforming Africa and building a sustainable future. I am optimistic that our business remains resilient and well positioned to overcome unforeseen macroeconomic headwinds.”

Nigeria: Dangote Cement says it has resumed exporting clinker from its Onne and Apapa terminals to Cameroon. Two ships delivered 57,000t of clinker and 0.34Mt of clinker was exported by road in the first half of 2021. The cement producer started exports in 2021 but was forced to suspend them in April 2021 following high demand for cement domestically.

The group’s revenue grew by 44.8% to US$1.68bn in the first half of 2021 from US$1.16bn in the same period in 2020. Cement sales volumes rose by 26.1% to 15.3Mt from 12.1Mt. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 61% to US$853m from US$530m. In Nigeria cement demand was attributed to increasing housing infrastructure, commercial construction and government projects including roads and railways. Outside of Nigeria, strong performance was noted in the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Senegal and Tanzania.

“This strong intrinsic performance is magnified by the lower second quarter results in 2020 due to the effect of Covid-19. The growth trend continues and we are focused on meeting the strong market demand across all our countries of operation,” said chief executive officer Michel Puchercos. He added that the group restarted clinker exports from Nigeria in the second quarter of 2021 following a ‘strategic decision’ to pause them in response to high demand domestically. The cement producer intends to commission its new 3Mt/yr Okpella plant in the third quarter of 2021. He also said that the company’s ongoing alternative fuels project is at an ‘advanced stage’ with procurement and installation of equipment occurring at all plants.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement recorded a net profit of US$422m in the first half of 2020, up by 5.8% year-on-year from US$308m in the first half of 2019. Net sales were US$1.23bn, up by 2% from US$1.21bn. Nigerian sales made up 70% of the total at US$861m, up by 1.2% from US$850m.

The company said, “Most Covid-19 lockdown measures started at the end of March 2020 and peaked in April 2020. The response by the authorities varied in nature from specific temporary restrictions in some countries to a complete temporary lockdown for non-essential businesses. Our operations in South Africa, Congo and Ghana were shut down due to full or partial lockdown in most of April 2020. By early May 2020, lockdown had eased, and all our businesses were operational.”

Regarding its Nigerian operations, it said, “Lagos, Abuja and Ogun states locked down from 31 March 2020 to 4 May 2020. As a result, April 2020 volumes were heavily impacted and 28% lower than in April 2019. Other states joined with complete or partial lockdown during the month.” It estimated that a recession would strike the economy before 31 December 2020, compounded by the Covid-19 outbreak and a first-half global oil price slump.

Nigeria: Denmark-based FLSmidth has secured a contract with Dangote Cement for the supply of hot kiln alignment services for 16 kiln lines across Africa. 10 of the lines are installed across three plants in Nigeria, with the remaining six situated in Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. The contract will endure until 2026.

Dangote Cement said that it chose FLSmidth to help it achieve ‘uninterrupted cement production and dispatch around the clock. Dangote Group deputy managing director Arvind Pathak said, “The equipment health audits, services, and support extended by FLSmidth have helped us maintain our pyro process equipment with good reliability. Hot kiln alignment is an excellent preventative maintenance strategy.”

FLSmidth says that it conducts 250 hot kiln alignments worldwide annually.

Nigeria: Domestic sales volumes of cement by Dangote Cement grew by 11.7% year-on-year to 10.8Mt in the first nine months of 2018, from 9.6Mt in the same period in 2017. However, sales in Sub-Saharan Africa grew slightly to 7Mt due to lower sales in Tanzania, disruptions due to civil unrest in Ethiopia and a reduction in exports from Nigeria to Ghana. This was mitigated by growing sales volumes in Zambia. Sierra Leone and the start-up of operations in the Republic of Congo. The cement company’s revenue rose by 13.5% to US$1.89bn from US$1.66bn and its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 14.6% to US$928m from US$810m.

“Nigerian sales were affected by serious flooding in September 2018 and although Pan-African sales were flat, we will see soon increased sales from Tanzania, now that its gas turbines are installed, and from Ethiopia as local community issues are resolved. We have launched new products in Nigeria that we believe will help us improve our leadership position in Africa’s most exciting market for cement,” said Joe Makoju, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Republic of Congo: Cement producers have expressed concerns about government plans to increase Value Added Tax (VAT) on cement to 18% from 5%. Cement prices are expected to rise as manufacturers pass the extra cost on to consumers, according to the Central African Information Agency. An industry source quoted by the agency said that local cement plants are doing badly due to a capacity utilisation rate of 10 – 20%. The country has five cement plants with a production capacity of 3.2Mt/yr but cement consumption was only 0.7Mt in 2017.