Zimbabwe lifts import restrictions on cement as prices shoot up

HARARE – The government has moved to ease an escalating cement shortage by lifting restrictions on imports, officials said on Wednesday.

Skills Audit and Development Minister Professor Paul Mavima, who was acting leader of government business in parliament, told lawmakers that cabinet had approved the temporary relaxation of import restrictions after prices spiked from about US$12 to as much as US$17 for a 50kg bag.

Mavima told MPs: “The factors are many but there is also an increase, a boom in the construction industry, including residential construction and other structures that are going up, which is contributing to this shortage.

“The cabinet took a decision yesterday (November 18) to open up the importation of cement and this is supposed to be with immediate effect.”

Some importers have also already exhausted their annual quotas, reducing inflows from Zambia — Zimbabwe’s main external supplier — just as pressure on the market intensified.

Cement traders say demand has been so strong that buyers have kept purchasing even as prices climbed.

Although construction activity typically peaks between April and November, industry players say this year’s surge — fuelled by both residential building and commercial projects — has been far greater than in previous seasons, overwhelming available supply and triggering the current squeeze.

Raj Modi, the deputy minister of industry, said there also appeared to be delays at the border which was further compounding the problem.

“We discussed this issue with my chief director and they told me that there is a backlog at the border. So, that is what is delaying them,” he said.

“Some people imported the cement, but it is still at the border, they have not yet been cleared. That was the answer I was given.”

Local production was also depressed, he explained.

“At the moment, there is a shortage of crinkles that are used for the manufacturing of the cement and there is also a breakdown in the machinery. So, at the moment, only PPC is working and the demand is so high that PPC cannot supply enough to the market,” he told MPs.