Alaf opts to import coils from India, Japan
What you need to know:
- ALAF Ltd Company that produces steel roofing has said that it is faced with challenge of importing raw material that is not locally found.
Dar es Salaam. Alaf Ltd has said it has been forced to import coils from India and Japan because they are not found locally.
According to Alaf marketing manager Isamba Kasaka, Tanzania is rich in metals production, but their quality is poor.
That is the case because the metals are not properly processed and therefore not good for producing quality steel roofings. “We undergo challenges in accessing raw materials. We have to import them and pay other charges in form of port levy among others, pushing up the prices of our products.” She was speaking during a ceremony to announce the Mabati Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature, which has been won by two writers: one from Tanzania and the other from Kenya.
They are Ms Zainab Baharoom (Tanzania) who scooped $5,000 after emerging a winner on the back of her novel titled Mungu Hakopesheki and Jacob Julius (Kenya) winner of $5,000 for a poem titled Fire of the Coconut Shell.
She said that in the era of industrialisation, the government needed to upgrade services like energy, ports, infrastructure as well as markets to attract investors to continue investing in industries.
She explained that had the company been able to get locally produced raw materials, it would be able to reduce costs of production.
That would have been possible because it would no longer have to incur costs of importing raw materials, transport and port costs.
Alaf was established in 1960. It is is a member of the Safal Group -- producers of metal roofing.
