Derba Cement to build second plant

By Kaleyesus Bekele

Derba Cement is going to build second cement manufacturing plant at a cost of 300 million dollars.

The company has selected the Chinese construction company, Sinoma International Engineering to build the new line.

CEO of Derba Cemenet Haile Assegidie and Han Xuefeng, Regional Marketing Director, Sinoma International Engineering, signed the agreement on Thursday November 24, 2022 at the Ministry of Mines.

Minister of Mines Takele Umma and Awelu Abdi, vice president of the Oromia Region, attended the signing ceremony.

The new cement factory will have a daily production capacity of 8000 ton and it will take two years to complete the construction. The cost of the project is estimated at 282 million dollars.

After signing the agreement Haile said as the country’s GDP is growing the demand for cement is increasing. “One percent growth in GDP creates 1.3 percent demand for cement. So there is an increasing demand for cement. That is why we decided to build a second line,” Haile said.

According to Haile, a transmission line is being constructed at a cost of 6.5 million dollars. Derba will sign a limestone exploration contract.

Haile disclosed that his company has allocated 55 million dollars for quarry machineries’ purchase adding that it will buy 750 trucks with an outlay of 150 million dollars.

Derba’s first line is undergoing a heavy maintenance at a cost of 1.5 billion Birr.

Awelu Abdi has assured executive of Derba that the Oromia Region will provide all the required support for the project. “Executives of Sinoma you are in good hands. There are some temporary security issues but we are working on it. The regional state together with the Federal Government are addressing the security issues. We have solved most of the problems and we are working on the remaining issues,” Awelu said. “You don’t have to worry about that,” he assured them.

Take Umma said that there is a critical cement shortage in the local market. “In tandem with the country’s GDP growth the demand for construction inputs will continue to surge. Hence, the management of Derba made the right decision,” Takele said.

The minister pledged to extend the required assistance to the project. “The federal government will back the project,” he added.

Derba Cement, a company owned by Sheik Mohammed Hussein Ali Alamoudi, the Ethiopian born Saudi billionaire, was inaugurated in 2012. The factory, which was built at a cost of 251 million dollars has the capacity to produce 7000 tons of cement per day.