Cement shortage hits country

There is an acute shortage of cement in the country. Challenges with clearing clinker from the Lome Port, the impact of the cedi’s depreciation, power outages and expansion works at various manufacturing enterprises are said to have contributed to the shortage of the product.

This has resulted in a deficit of 200,000 tonnes nationwide.

Many wholesale and retail shops are without cement, resulting in a hike in the price of the product on the market.

Currently, it is being sold at GH¢32, from the GH¢28 previously.

GHACEM

According to the Director of Corporate Affairs of Ghana Cement (GHACEM) Company Limited, Dr George Dawson-Amoah, the company's Tema Plant, with a production capacity of  2.2 million tonnes, was running at full capacity.

He attributed the shortfall in supply to the incessant power outages at the company's Takoradi Plant.

He told the Daily Graphic in Tema that in spite of the fact that the Tema Plant was able to produce 58,000 tonnes of cement on a weekly basis, power outages at the Takoradi Plant, with a production capacity of  two million tonnes, had affected supply.

"Although we are working around the clock, there is still a backlog of about 200,000 tonnes in supply deficit which we are unable to meet," Dr Dawson-Amoah said.

Dangote

Officials of Dangote Cement, however, declined a media interview, although they admitted their packaging plant had been shut down for expansion works.

Ho

A break in the supply chain from Diamond Cement at Aflao had created a shortage of cement in Ho over the past week, reports Tim Dzamboe.

Almost all cement dealers in the Ho municipality had closed their shops when the Daily Graphic went round town yesterday.

When contacted, the acting Commercial Manager of Diamond Cement, Mr Philimon Baiden, attributed the shortage to congestion at the Togo Port which made it impossible for the company to clear its imported clinker for production on time.

He said the ships conveying the clinker had been locked up for almost three weeks and could not discharge until last Thursday.

He said the second agony encountered was the power outage that occurred immediately after production resumed but gave an assurance that the market would be flooded soon once the raw material had been cleared at the port and delivered on the factory premises.

Asked whether there could be a price hike on the product, Mr Baiden said he could not rule out that possibility because of the instability of the cedi against the dollar.

Before the shortage, a bag of cement was selling at GH¢24 in Ho.

Bolgatanga

Vincent Amenuveve reports that some retailers of cement have expressed concern over the shortage of the product in the Bolgatanga municipality.

One retailer, Madam Faustina Gurusa, said, "It is sad that I do not have a single bag of cement in my shop, although the product is in high demand."

She explained that the municipality started experiencing the shortage from last week, adding that customers and those in the construction industry were disappointed with the situation.

Tamale

Not even a bag of cement can be found in the major wholesale and retail shops in the Tamale metropolis, reports Samuel Duodu.

The Managing Director of A.Y. Paramount Company Limited, Alhaji A. Yamusah, told the Daily Graphic that the company, which was a wholesale dealer, had, for the past one week, not received supplies from the Buipe Cement Depot in the Central Gonja District.

According to him, he had been informed of repair works on the Buipe Plant, hence the shortage.

A similar situation was witnessed at Aspet A. Enterprise, also a wholesaler and retailer of cement at Lamashegu, a suburb of Tamale.