The National Cement Company is set to send home over 860 workers after its clinker manufacturing factory at Emali is unable to operate optimally.
In a statement, Devki Group Chairman Narendra Raval said that cheaper imports are eating into the market, shrinking their profits.
“We had hired additional staff in line with our expanded clinker capacity so as to satisfy local demand, but imports are eating into this market. It is, therefore, difficult to sustain jobs when there is no demand to allow us to operate at full capacity,” said Raval.
The company shut down its Mombasa clinker plant a couple of months ago, and laid off more than 300 workers over unutilised capacity.
The company will now import most of its clinker just like other cement factories, dealing a blow to the manufacturing industry.
“Kenya appears to have become a duty-free country, and we may also consider stopping local manufacturing and importing clinker like others. Millions of dollar investments are going down because of policy gaps. As a country, how are we going to encourage more investments and industrialisation to create jobs for millions of youth?” wondered Raval.
Currently, cement manufacturers pay 10 percent as import duty on clinker, with stakeholders pushing to have the duty increased to 25 percent.
Importers used Ksh8.3 billion in five years to 2020 to import 4,439.7 tonnes of clinker from countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Pakistan.
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