CIMERWA, the countrys largest cement producer is set to purchase new equipment after acquiring a letter of credit from Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Rwanda, the factorys management has said. Last year a number of the companys investment plans were affected by the global recession. In an interview with Business Times recently, Fiacre Birasa, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rwanda Investment Group (RIG) said that KCB has issued a letter of credit for the Cement Factory that worth USD 26million that has boosted the Companys capital to order factory equipment abroad. We have ordered the equipment from China and by the end of 2011 the plant will be operational using a dry process. The new plant will make CIMERWA more competitive within the Rwanda market, as well as opening up new markets in the region, he said. Birasa observed that currently CIMERWA is still employing a traditional method of production referred to as wet process which consumes a lot of energy. However the CEO says with peat production underway, this will help to trim-down the companys energy costs with the company targeting to convert the current 100,000metric tonnes plant to 80percent peat and 20 percent fuel technology. Currently there is a lot of speculation on cement which pushes the prices up because supply is limited. However by end of next year we will have enough quantity and quality cement to kill the speculation as the prices will come down, Birasa observed. Birasa mentioned that feasibility studies about the peat project have shown that Rwanda has the capacity to produce enough peat that can be used as an alternative source of energy for households and industries. RIG has the majority stake in Cimerwa, where it plans to increase its production capacity by six folds to 600,000 tonnes annually. Ends
