Mozambique's Dugongo Cement recently announced that it will invest in the construction of a third cement plant in the Ancuabe region of Cabo Delgado province in the north of the country, with a total investment of about US $35 million (about 29.8 million euros). Anselmo Amurane, coordinator of
the project, said at the first special meeting of the Executive Council of Cabo Delgado Province that the project team is currently working on a detailed plan for the construction of the plant and has completed two rounds of community consultation on land use and development rights (DUAT). Further community communication related to environmental permitting will follow.
According to Amuran, the construction period of the project is 17 months, the construction phase will employ about 900 workers, and the operation phase will provide about 135 jobs. He said the start date of the project would be announced soon.
He stressed that the new plant will increase Mozambique's overall cement supply and production capacity, and plans to absorb young people from Nampula province for employment, while imparting technical knowledge. This model has been implemented in the company's two plants in Maputo and Nacala.
Dugongo Cement is a joint venture between Mozambican company SPI and West China Cement Limited. Some research institutes have pointed out that SPI is related to the ruling party Frelimo, but the latter has not yet responded to this.
Since entering the market in May 2021, Dugongo has sold cement at a low price far below the market price, causing other companies to accuse it of unfair competition, leading to bankruptcy and layoffs of some cement companies. The company then raised the price to near market levels. In September
2022, Dugongo was fined 20.5 million meticals (€ 321,000) by the Mozambican competition regulator for alleged anti-competitive behaviour after failing to respond to the regulator's query on the "method of calculating the sales price of cement".