Ceramic factory to commence production in August this year
Production at the multimillion-dollar ceramic factory at the Free Zone enclave in Sekondi in the Western Region is expected to commence by the end of August this year.
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When completed, the $100 million project will produce floor tiles, toilet bowls and other ceramic products using local raw materials such as limestone, kaolin clay, fieldspar and silica deposits identified in the Western and Central regions.
The products will be for both the domestic and international markets.
The factory is owned by a Chinese company, Wangkang Ghana, a member of the Wangkang Holding Group.
Power generation
The factory has an inbuilt thermal plant to generate its required megawatts of power using gas from the Ghana Gas Company (Ghana Gas) processing plant at Atuabo.
The Vice-General Manager of the Group, Mr Peng Chao, who spoke to the Daily Graphic, explained that an initial assessment confirmed the availability of the required raw materials in the two regions and added that that informed their decision to site the factory in the enclave.
Operations
He indicated that with the progress of work so far, the first phase of the plant would be in full operation by the close of August this year.
“It will interest you to note that most of our raw materials are located in the Western and Central regions. We will create more than a thousand jobs at the factory after we have finished the entire project,” the manager said.
Focus
Mr Chao said as a Free Zone company, their focus was to ensure that the domestic and the West African sub-regional markets were catered for with high quality products.
He pledged the company’s commitment to ensure high local content. “We would employ and transfer skills to local staff at every line of the company’s operations.”
According to him, the company currently had a total of about 250 employees from the communities and the region as a whole and “when production lines are in full session, we are sure to engage more than thousand workers.”
Inspection
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, earlier led a delegation of the Free Zones Board to the facility and other land banks in the region.
The ministry pledged its support to the companies that had expressed interest in investing in the enclave which is located in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis and the Shama District.