ZAMBIA’S CEMENT INDUSTRY IS OVER SUPPLIED AND HEAVILY COMPETITIVE SAYS LAFARGE

Lafarge Zambia Plc has bemoaned
the high saturation of the cement industry in the country. Lafarge Zambia Plc CEO
Jimmy Khan says the cement industry in Zambia is over supplied and heavily
competitive.

Khan said Zambia’s cement
consumption stands at around 2.2 million tonnes compared to a production of
about 5 million tonnes.

He told President Lungu at State
House in Lusaka on 1 October when he paid him a courtesy call, that his company
recently hiked cement price by 25% to stay in business.

Khan said his firm made losses of
about K43 million due to many players coming into the sector and that
management saw it fit to increase prices in order to stay afloat and operate.

He praised government for the
infrastructure development and said his company has moved much of its cargo
from road to railway as it pushes to regain a fair share of the market which
stands at about 33%.

Khan said Lafarge will continue
to use the Mpulungu Port in Northern Province to export cement to the east
African market.

He proposed that government
consider building concrete roads as an alternative to the costly bituminous
ones.

President Lungu said government
remains committed to supporting the private sector as the engine for economic
growth and development.

The President said government’s
decision to retain Value Added Tax (VAT) as a system for collecting tax as
opposed to the proposed Sales Tax demonstrates that government is willing to
listen to the business sector to ensure that the economy meets stakeholder
expectations.

The president said government is
negotiating for a financing facility with the World Bank to expand and improve
port facilities at Mpulungu in order to boost cargo business and exports to
East Africa.

Special Assistant to the
President for Press and public relations Isaac Chipampe told journalists that
President Lungu encourages private companies to adopt environment friendly
business activities and operations and to invest in recycling operations.

He said the Head of State says
government will continue to encourage the private sector to use railway as the
alternative to road transport for transporting cargo in order to save roads
from damage.

He said recycling ventures can help create employment for youths in the country.https://www.lusakatimes.com/2019/10/02/the-cement-industry-in-zambia-is-over-supplied-and-heavily-competitive-lafarge-tells-president-lungu/