Stamico assures cement firms of coal availability

What you need to know:

  • It has said 18,600 tonnes of coal are being produced every month at Kabuko Coal Mine in Songwe.

Dar es Salaam. The State Mining Corporation (Stamico) has assured cement producers of the availability of coal.

It has said 18,600 tonnes of coal are being produced every month at Kabuko Coal Mine in Songwe.

“After three months, we plan to increase production to around 45,000 tonnes per month as the demand is high,” Stamico acting exploration and drilling director Alex Rutagwelela said on Wednesday September 11.

The long-term plan is to increase production up to 60,000 tonnes a month when infrastructure challenges are dealt with.

However, he said the production increase would depend on weather as during the rainy season it was difficult to do so.

He hinted that coal was also highly demanded in Kenya and Rwanda.

“To implement the government directives, we will begin to sell coal to local cement producers and the surplus will be exported,” he said.

Last month, cement producers said they were facing the shortage of coal.

As a result, cement prices had been high.

Coal is primarily used as a solid fuel to produce electricity and heat through combustion. According to the EIA, world coal consumption is projected to increase from 2012 to 2040 at an average rate of 0.6 per cent/year, from 153 quadrillion Btu (1 Quad are 36,000,000 tonnes of coal) in 2012 to 169 quadrillion Btu in 2020, and to 180 quadrillion Btu in 2040. Efforts around the world to reduce the use of coal has led some regions to switch to natural gas. China produced 3.47 billion tonnes in 2011.