GHACEM to use local raw materials to produce cement

Tema, July 24, GNA - The Ghana Cement Works (GHACEM) is to use limestone mined locally to produce cement to help reduce the cost of production, Mr Bjarne Schmidt, Managing Director (MD) of GHACEM said on Wednesday.

Mr Schmidt said the company had acquired land at Noga, near Asesewa in the Eastern Region, and it is waiting for the issuance of a licence from the Ghana Minerals Commission to prospect for limestone. The company imports limestone and gypsum for the production of cement.

''Since mining is not GHACEM's core business a mining company will undertake the project and we will transport the limestone to Tema for our production".

He was briefing Mr Ishmael Ashitey, Minister of State, Ministry of Trade, Industry and President's Special Initiatives, during a familiarisation tour of the cement plant.

GHACEM has also contracted Fine Print Company, a paper manufacturing company in Tema, to supply it with paper bags to package the cement. Hitherto, paper bags for packaging were imported.

Mr Schmidt said GHACEM was facing competition from the West Africa Cement Manufacturing Company and that a third cement company which imported cement and only bagged it for sale has also emerged in Tema around Community Two.

The GHACEM Chief said the company was satisfied with the uninterrupted power supply to the factory but complained about the high tariffs and appealed to the Energy Commission to consider reducing it. Mr Isaac Attah, Production Manager, said GHACEM had an installed daily plant capacity of 90,000 bags but averagely it produces 70,000 bags. However, on Monday, July 21 it hit 83,000 bags.

He said the Company was environmentally friendly and attributed this to the installation of dust collection plant at vantage points at the factory to ensure that the atmosphere was not polluted with cement dust.

Mr Ashitey commended GHACEM for considering patronising local materials for its products and said this objective was in line with a programme drawn up by the Ministry to ensure that most of the factories used some amount of local raw materials in their products.

He said the Ministry had come out with new industrial reforms for accelerated growth of industries to promote export.

Mr Ashitey said having observed that most industrialists had little knowledge of industrial programmes; the Ministry would collaborate with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports to offer training courses for small scale/medium entrepreneurs.

He said the Ministry had concentrated so much on trade and it was about time to diversify its programmes to benefit the larger community. The Minister later visited the Tema Steel Works where the staff complained about insufficient scraps in the system and frequent power interruptions.