National Cement, which holds 11 percent of the Kenyan cement market with its Simba Cement brand, wanted to raise its production capacity in the East African nation, where cement consumption has been rising in recent years due to a construction boom. The acquisition of ARM’s plants will initially increase National Cement’s 1 million tonne annual capacity by 400,000 tonnes, Raval said. ARM Cement has an installed annual production capacity at its two plants in Kenya of 1 million tonnes. National Cement is also interested in buying ARM’s assets in Tanzania and Rwanda, Raval said, without giving details. ARM Cement slid into losses after investing heavily in its Tanzanian business in 2014, which did not generate a return.

Source: Standard Digital May 24, 2019 09:59 UTC