Dangote Opens New Cement Plant in Zambia, Output Hits 45m Tonnes

  

 As Dangote Cement Plc prepares to formally open its new cement plant in the Southern African nation of Zambia tomorrow, the company’s total output is expected to hit 45 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) on the African continent.

An investor relations report sighted by THISDAY on Dangoe Cement’s operations showed that with the company’s plant expansion in various African countries including one in Nepal, Dangote Cement’s total projected capacity will stand at 53mmtpa by 2017.

The company’s cement factories in Nigeria lead the way with a combined capacity of 29.25mmtpa from three massive plants in the North-central and South-west regions of the country.

The Obajana cement plant in Kogi State, which is the largest single cement plant in Africa, produces 13.25mmtpa from four lines, dwarfing all other cement plants on the continent. This is closely followed by the Ibese cement plant in Ogun State, which also runs four lines with a combined annual output of 12mmtpa.

Dangote’s smallest plant in Nigeria is the Benue Cement Company (BCC) acquired from the federal government in Gboko, Benue State, with a capacity of 4mmtpa.

The three Dangote plants in Nigeria produce a combined output of 29.25mmtpa, representing about 60 per cent of the total cement produced locally, with smaller producers in the country like Lafarge, BUA and UNICEM accounting for the remaining 40 per cent local production.

Apart from Nigeria, Dangote owns cement plants in other countries in Africa comprising Ghana, Cameroun, Senegal, Ethiopia, Congo, Cote d' Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Niger, Mali and Zambia.

While the company is already producing cement in Zambia, Ethiopia, South Africa, Senegal, Cameroun, Ghana and of course Nigeria, new plants in the other African nations have reached advanced stages of construction, with many to be commissioned before the end of 2017, the report said.

Expansion of some of the already operational plants such as the plant in Ethiopia is currently ongoing.
Dangote Cement plants in Africa puts Nigeria at 29.25mmtpa, Cameroun - 1.5mmtpa; Congo - 1.5mmtpa; Cote d' Ivoire - 1.5mmtpa; Ghana - 1.5mmtpa; Liberia - 0.5mmtpa; Senegal - 1.5mmtpa; Sierra Leone - 0.7mmtpa; Ethiopia - 2.5mmtpa operational and another 2.5mmtpa under construction; South Africa - 3.3mmtpa; Tanzania - 3.0mmtpa; and Zambia 1.5mmtpa.

Expected output for green field plants in Kenya, Niger and Mali are yet to be released by the company.