LIBERIA – Cemenco, a subsidiary of German based Heidelberg Cement, has commissioned a new 0.5Mt/yr, US$14m cement mill at its cement grinding plant in Monrovia, Liberia.
Liberia’s head of state, H.E President George Weah who was at the launch of the new cement plant by CEMENCO said that the project was a clear demonstration of the confidence investors have in the Liberian economy.
“To make foreign direct investment in Liberia is a vote of confidence in the safety and civility of the Liberian investment environment; we applaud you for that,” he said.
Describing the cement production plant as timely, President Weah affirmed that after two years of assessment, CEMENCO will witness growth within the Liberian Economy as a result of many new projects which will required cement products.
Investment in the new cement grinding facility in Liberia includes a two-chambered 65t/hr ball mill with high-efficiency separator, filter, fan and flow meter.
The power supply of the new cement-grinding mill is provided through a 5.7MW generator plant on a rental basis.
“The construction of the new cement mill in Liberia is in line with our strategy of modernising and expanding clinker and cement capacities in emerging markets,” said Dr Bernd Scheifele, Chairman of the Managing Board of HeidelbergCement.
“In Ghana, we recently increased the cement grinding capacity at our Tema cement plant and are currently building a new cement mill in Takoradi.
Together with our existing plants in this region, the new mill in Liberia strengthens our coastal network in West Africa.”
During the plant commissioning , CEMENCO Managing Director William Gaihnard said the new plant will be able to produce 14 million bags of cement per year – far above what was previously being produced.
Mr. Gaihnard added that the investment demonstrates his company’s readiness to live up to the demand for quality cement in Liberia.
He also said that the facility will also curb the scarcity of cement and enable the product to be sold at affordable price for those involved with civil engineering works.
Heidelberg Cement is currently conducting investment projects in sub-Saharan Africa amounting to almost US$400m.
They include expansion projects of cement capacity of about 3Mt and of clinker capacity of 1.5Mt.
