Ghacem increases production capacity

GHACEM Limited has increased its production capacity at its Tema factory from 1.2 million tonnes to 2.2 million tonnes per annum.

This has further boosted the overall annual capacity to 3.4 million tonnes, with productions from the Tema and Takoradi factories of the company.

Mr. Morten Gade, the Managing Director of GHACEM, announced this yesterday at the commissioning of a state-of-the-art mill at the Tema factory meant to augment its current production capacity with an additional one million metric tonnes annually.

He pegged the cost of the expansion project at GH¢40million, and disclosed that a similar expansion project has been earmarked for commissioning at the Takoradi factory in 2014.

“These expansion projects will no doubt further enhance GHACEM’s investment portfolio, which is exclusively tailored to meet the nation’s increasing need for a consistent supply of reliable, quality cement,” he said.

Mr. Gade cited the new production line as “ample evidence of our commitment to produce enough cement to meet the ever-increasing demand for quality cement for important national and individual projects.”

President John Dramani Mahama, whose speech was read on his behalf by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Hanna Tetteh, commended the Board and management of GHACEM as well as its mother-company, the Heidelbergcement of Germany, for its confidence in the Ghanaian economy which has informed its decision to re-invest in the company.

The President also congratulated the efforts of Dr. Justice J. A. Addison, the celebrated Ghanaian industrialist through whose ingenuity GHACEM was established in 1967; noting that “the pioneering efforts of this man will forever remain a living testimony of his industrial acumen.”

President Mahama assured that government will continue to create an enabling environment for the private sector to participate in the delivery of decent and low-cost housing units for Ghanaians.

“So, availability of cement and other building materials in the country is very crucial to ensure that government achieves this objective of making housing more accessible to the majority of Ghanaians,” he said.

In attendance at the event were top government officials and management of GHACEM, including Nana Owusu-Afari, president of the Association of Ghana Industries; Nana Prah Agyensaim, Ghacem Board Member; and Mr. Daniel Gauthier, the Ghacem Board Chairman and Member of the Managing Board of Heidelberg Cement Group of Germany.

The rest were: Dr. George Dawson-Ahmoah, the Strategy and Corporate Affairs Director; Mr. Kwesi Dickson, the Tema Works Manager; Mr. Jean Marc Junon, COO Heidelberg Cement Africa; Mrs. Evelyn Quansah, Takoradi Human Resource Manager; and Mr. Eugene Largea, Production Manager, Tema.