Cement shortage in Maputo

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Cement shortage in Maputo

2:17 CAT | 06 May 2020

Photo: O País

Maputo is currently suffering a shortage of nationally produced cement, with the price in some yards and retailers increasing. The situation partially reflects reduced production in factories as a result of the State of Emergency regulations currently in force.

A hardware store on Karl Marx Avenue, one of the best known in the capital, on Tuesday morning saw a “freightliner” loaded with cement manoeuvring to park up and deliver its cargo.

But cement is scarce¸ and this same hardware store is limiting customer to just 20 bags,
creating constraints for those involved in construction projects of any size.

One of the customers, Jeremias Moiane, who had finally bought cement after a long search, discoursed on what is going on in the market. “There is a lack of cement, that I know. I’ve come from Marracuene and I’ve been to four hardware stores without success. I went to Choupal, they didn’t have. I went to Construa, there was none, to Magoanine and there was nothing, to a Nigerian… None had the cement that I wanted, I wanted 42.5 cement and they didn’t have it”.

Price is another concern, Macamo tells us. “We get here to find that the price has gone up. The 32.5 cement is now 410 meticais for a 50kg bag. Before, it was 400 meticais.”

Speaking to ‘O País’ by phone, the Director General of Cimentos de Moçambique, explained that the State of Emergency had obliged the factory to reduce its workforce, cutting production by 20%.

“We had to redeploy around 140 people between administrative and production and yes, the production areas were affected. We have had to cut one shift. For example here at Matola, the factory works 24 hours. As for this price issue, I can guarantee you that within Cimentos de Moçambique the factory door price I charge is exactly the same as it was. What may happen is that the shopkeeper might have increased the price for some specific reason, but I do not control the retail price, I only control the price I charge the dealer. Usually, at Matola, we would be shipping something like 4,000 tons of cement per day, but now it’s 3,000 to 3,200 a day.”

Our source explained that he could not grant a face-to-face interview due to the Covid-19 protocols adopted by the company.

Mozambique has six domestic cement brands, all of which are scarce, to one degree or another.

By Amândio Borges

Source: O País