Cement production in Kenya is soon to see a new entrant. A new cement grinding plant is set to be constructed in Western Kenya on a 50-acre piece of land. It is projected to produce 730,000 tonnes of cement a year and enhance the competition in the industry.
“The plant will have the capacity to increase cement production in Kenya by 2,000 tonnes of cement per day using raw materials such as clinker, additives, gypsum and pozzolona. With the exception of clinker that will be imported into the country, all the other in-puts will be mined locally,” said the company in its filings with the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).
East Africa and Kenya in particular has seen increased demand for cement because of the many kinds of infrastructure projects that are ongoing. Some of them include the Standard Gauge Railway, Lamu Port, South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport corridor, Terminal Four at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, and real estate ventures.
Other players intending to increase cement production in Kenya are Dangote Group which plans to develop a US$ 358m cement factory with a capacity of three million tonnes in Kitui, Kenya. Cemtech which is a cement finish and concrete waterproofing company in Mauritius is also planning to construct a US$103m plant in Pokot which will have a capacity of 1.2m tones per year.
