Staff Reporter
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce is not relaxing its requirement for an import licence for companies and individuals who wish to bring in cement from outside Zimbabwe in order to protect the local cement producing companies.
According to a source who spoke to this publication, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce is currently inundated with applications for permits to import the commodity from outside the country.
“Due to the short supply of cement that has been experienced of late, a number of companies and individuals have sent in their applications for import licences.
“The increased demand for imported cement has been triggered by the shortage of our locally manufactured cement from Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) and Lafarge,” revealed the source.
Meanwhile, PPC and Lafarge have stopped taking new orders because of supply constraints. Analysts say the development will trigger price hikes.
“The shortage may cause price hikes and smuggling of cement into the country. People are most likely to smuggle the commodity since cement requires an import licence,” said one economic analyst.
The contact at Lafarge cement attributed the shortage to a major breakdown at the plant. There was a major breakdown at the plant. It took a bit longer than expected to get production back on track, as the company faced challenges in acquiring the non-functional component to reactivate the plant.
A contact from PPC also said they also had a breakdown that lasted for almost a month at the Collen Bawn Clinker in Gwanda and repairs have just recently been completed.
Moses Ngwenya, an economic analyst attributed the shortage of cement to the upgrade of major projects such as the Beitbridge-Harare highway, Gwayi-Shangani Dam construction and Hwange Power plant expansion
He also said: “Due to the good harvest experienced by the farmers, many of them are buying the commodity to build their homesteads and tobacco bans. Also as we approach the rainy season, building contractors try to expedite their construction projects before the onset of rains; therefore there is a lot of activity in the construction industry.
PPC controls 50% of the local market, while Lafarge controls 20% and then the rest is shared by SinoZim 15%; Live-Touch cement 10%, whilst, Pacstar Cement and Concrete limited control 5%, of the total market share.
A report released in 2019 by the Concrete and Cement Institute of Zimbabwe estimated that the country’s demand is at 1.3million, whereas local producers have a combined capacity to produce 2 million tonnes per year.