Cement firm builds new Sh320bn kiln

Tanga. The second kiln of Tanga Cement roared into action with the management urging the government to stop or raise tariffs on imported cement and clinker so as to help local industries to grow.

The $152 million (Sh320 billion) worth kiln is the second largest expansion since 1980 at the firm.

The construction of Kiln II has added a total of 750,000 tonnes of clinker from the previous capacity of 500,000 tonnes produced a year.

Speaking after the launch yesterday, Industry, Trade and Investment minister Charles Mwijage said the construction of the kiln offered lessons to local government authorities on the need to adhere to set budget and time in execution of development projects.

“This project has taught us a great lesson. Construction was completed within the planned timeframe. The cost also came down from $165 million. LGAs must learn from this,” he advised.

He underscored the private sector’s contribution to the government’s determination to turn Tanzania into an industrialised nation.

Mr Mwijage urged investors to visit the ‘ease of doing business desk’ whenever there were issues hindering their investments. “We should, however, raise issues and not complaints,’” he cautioned.

He further urged workers and workers’ unions to strive to understand their companies’ situations when pushing for their rights. “You should know when your company is facing bad times and when things are ok,” he advised.

According to him, the installed cement production capacity in country is 8.3 million tonnes while local demand is 4.8 million tonnes which means there is an excess supply of about 3 million tonnes.

Speaking on small and medium industries, Mr Mwijage urged Tanga Cement to support them so that they would increase their contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and create more jobs.

“Jobs improve people’s purchasing power, that is why we push for industrialisation as manufactured goods too need customers,” he said.

Tanga Cement board chairman Lawrence Masha said the expansion started on August 13, 2013 and the company started to use the facility for production of clinker on December 10, 2015.

He said this was a huge expansion of production by up to 150 per cent, adding that this will enable the company to meet the demand of the raw material.

The chairman noted that the quality of clinker produced determines the quality of cement. He said the leading cement producer was also recorgnised as a super-brand of East Africa.

For his part, firm’s managing director Reinhardt Swart said the launching of the second kiln marked a milestone in the expansion of the factory, pointing out that the investment was part of the company’s continuous modernisation programme of the plant.