ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia has set to export cement product to four additional neighboring countries as of next fiscal year, announced Chemical and Construction Inputs Industry Development Institute.
Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda would be included in the list of export destinations.
Institute Marketing and Development Director Abubeker Hassen told The Ethiopian Herald that the nation’s cement export over the last three quarters of the fiscal year hit 12 million USD from the export of 5 million tonns of cement to Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia.
The Institute has been supporting cement manufacturers to boost production by exploring additional sites foe the extraction of raw materials like limestone, coal, gypsum, among others, according to him.
So far, only five of the 15 cement production firms were participating in cement export, he notes, adding that consensus has been reached with all of them to target export trade as well.
To fill the gaps and increase the productivity of the cement factories, the institute has been providing trainings and supports through regular inspections, he stressed. Nationally the plan is to produce 11 million tonns of cement in nine months. At full capacity, the national cement production could reach 17 million tonns, it was learnt.
The Ethiopian Herald April 05/2019
BY MISGANAW ASNAKE
