According to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MIC), the production of cement grew 1.8% in 2020, despite adversities such as delays in maintenance and the import of raw materials as a result of the coronavirus.
Figures made available by National Director of Industry, Sidónio dos Santos, this Tuesday indicate that, in 2020, the 14 cement plants in Mozambique produced 2.9 thousand tons of cement, against 2.8 thousand tons in 2019, an increase of 1.8%.
This remains well below the total installed production capacity of 5.7 thousand tons per year.
However, speaking last week at a press conference addressing the reasons for the increase in cement prices, Dos Santos noted that the growth figure does not reflect positive performance by all cement production units in the country.
“We had units where production fell – three here in the south and one in the north. This was caused, here in the south, by a breakdown that took a long time to recover from. Another problems was accessing the raw material, clinker. Covid-19 also contributed to poor performance in some units, as well as the devaluation of our currency,” Dos Santos explained.
The pandemic, Dos Santos said, had, by the end of the first half of 2020, created problems in the supply of cement, causing lines of trucks at factory gates. However, currently, cement is available throughout the national territory.
Regarding the increase in cement prices, Dos Santos blamed the depreciation of the metical against the US dollar as the primary factor, but said that 720 meticais for a 50 kg still constituted ‘speculative pricing’, and urged the National Inspection of Economic Activities to discipline economic agents acting in bad faith.
