The investment of US$40 million (€30 million) also includes the construction of a new clinker and a new cement silo as well as the installation of new cement bag packing and dispatch facilities.
“The construction of the new cement mill is part of our strategy of expanding our clinker and cement capacities in growth markets. In particular the countries of sub-Saharan Africa feature a very attractive growth potential due to the early stage of industrialisation and the raw material deposits,” says Dr Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement. “The cement plant in Tanzania is our bridgehead in East Africa. We recently modernised one of the older kilns and increased the clinker capacity by 250,000tonnes annually. We are now constructing a new mill in order to secure our leading position in the country and maintain a good balance between our clinker and cement capacities.”
By setting up adequate capacity to better serve the growing market in Dar es Salaam as well as Tanzania at large, HeidelbergCement says it aims at maintaining its competitive edge in this region.
Commissioning of the new mill is scheduled for late 2014. Once commissioned, Tanzania Portland Cement Company (TPCC), a subsidiary of HeidelbergCement, will have a total cement capacity of 2 million tonnes annually.
