New cement plant for Western Region
Manufacturers in the cement industry in the country have indicated that the influx cement from Nigeria and China poses a serious threat to their operations in Ghana.
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At the inaugural ceremony of a Western Diamond Cement plant at Bokro in the Ahanta West District of the Western Region, the Senior Sales and Marketing Manager of the Diamond Cement Group, Mr. Prakash Bhatt, said “While making strides to contribute to the cement industry locally by employing local resources, the importation from China and Nigeria are affecting our businesses.”
Owing to the liberalisation of the market, some cement is imported but the local cement manufactures want this to be controlled because they have the capacity to produce to meet local demand.
Capacity
With the growing demand for housing in the country, he said “its investment with the capacity of 3.5 million outputs from the Diamond Cement Group using local materials had the capacity to fulfill local demands for cement.”
Mr Bhatt said the investment in the region was the first vertical plant in the country with the aptitude to produce a high-grade cement to meet the requirements of the construction industry across the country.
Siting its production points across the country since its inception, he explained, was strategic in its quest to meet the demands of customers.
Group Chairman
For his part, the Chairman of the Group, Mr. Manubhai J Patel, said, the group had the reputation of manufacturing to quality cement grade that would provide a competitive pricing mechanism for the country.
“Ghana is a vibrant economy with rapid growth in West Africa,” he said, adding that the plant in the Western Region would mean that, the company was joining hands with the locals to chart the path of growth and enhance the local economy.
The ceremonial
At the inaugural ceremony, customers and dealers were taken through the new technology that the company was employing in its operations.
In various presentations, it was explained that, much as the product was located in Aflao in the Volta Region and Buipe siting the plants in various locations were strategic to ensure timely distribution to its markets in the country.
The company entered the country in 1991 through its joint venture with the government, which saw the establishment of Tema Steel Company through the process of reviving the Tema Steel works of Ghana Industrial Holding Company (GIHOC).
In respond to the high demand for cement the company moved to establish diamond cement at Aflao and introduce the diamond brand of cement in Ghana and moved to establish the Savanna Diamond in Buipe in the Northern part of the country.
