Kenyan cement giant Bamburi Cement has signed a US $250 million EPC contract with China's Sinoma International Engineering Company to build a clinker production line with an annual output of 1.6 million tons in Matuga, Kwale County. This major project is not only the core project of Bamburi's capacity expansion, but also supported by Kenyan President Ruto at the signing ceremony, highlighting its national strategic significance.
The new plant will feature an advanced six-stage precalciner kiln system, marking a key step towards green manufacturing for the East African cement industry. The project plans to make full use of Kenya's local resources and use biomass fuels such as coconut shells, cashew shells and municipal solid waste as alternative energy sources to significantly reduce the carbon emission intensity in the production process. This technology configuration not only improves energy efficiency, but also opens up a new path for the recycling of agricultural waste, so as to achieve a win-win situation between environmental protection and industrial development.
From the perspective of industrial strategy, the commissioning of the project will completely change the supply chain pattern of Kenya's cement industry. Bamburi's current clinker production capacity is 1 million tons per year, and the total production capacity will jump to 2.6 million tons per year after the completion of the new production line, and the total cement production will increase from 1.8 million tons per year to 4 million tons per year. Mohit Kapoor, CEO of Bamburi, made it clear that this would significantly reduce the dependence on imported clinker, improve the stability of product quality, save a lot of foreign exchange resources and stabilize market prices, and provide a solid material guarantee for national infrastructure construction and private sector development. The economic and social benefits brought by the
project can not be ignored. A large number of employment opportunities will be created during the construction period and after the project is put into operation, which will strongly promote the industrialization process of Kenya's coastal areas. Although Bamburi did not announce the exact production schedule, industry sources said that the new production line is expected to be put into operation in 2028, becoming a benchmark project for the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing industry in East Africa.
It is worth noting that the Kenyan government's protection policy for the local clinker industry provides a policy guarantee for the success of the project. At the same time as the signing of the contract, President Ruto explicitly rejected the earlier proposal of the trade department to abolish the 17.5% import clinker tax, stressing that Kenya has sufficient limestone reserves and is fully capable of producing clinker independently. Ruto pointed out that maintaining import restrictions is a necessary measure to stimulate domestic capacity investment and reduce external dependence, which forms a perfect policy synergy with Bamburi's localization strategy and lays a solid foundation for the long-term sustainable development of the project.
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