Maputo, Mozambique, 9 April – The national director for Industry in Mozambique has said there are at least five potential investors in Mozambique that had shown interest in investing in the country’s cement industry, according to Mozambican newspaper Notícias.

Speaking to the newspaper, Sidónio dos Santos, without naming the potential investors, said that negotiations were underway for construction of more cement factories, in order to stabilise the Mozambican market, which has high prices and an irregular supply of the product.

“negotiations are at different stages, depending on the proponent, but we will certainly have at least one more factory operating in the next five years,” he said.

Mozambique’s installed cement production capacity is estimated at 1.142 million tons per year, as a result of contributions from the factories at Matola (in Maputo province and with a capacity of 600,000 tons per year), Dondo (in Sofala, with a capacity of 240,000 tons), Nacala (Nampula, with a capacity of 250,000 tons) and the Sunera factory, located in Boane district, in Maputo province, with an installed capacity of 52,800 tons.

However, as well as the poor operation of some factories, the immediate needs of the country are estimated at around 1.4 million tons per year, thus exceeding its installed capacity.

Dos Santos also said that the fact that the current companies are located in Maputo (South of the country), Sofala (centre) and Nampula (north), means that if there is a fault at any one of them the situation will lead to a lack of supply in the region where it is located as there is no alternative factory to stabilise the market. (macauhub)