“They may have ulterior, perhaps political motives,” said Gari.
The state-owned Ethiopian Petroleum Enterprise has procured 300,000tns of coal from abroad this year, serving as the sole entity mandated to import on behalf of cement manufacturers. The remainder of the 1.7 million tons demanded by the industry are supplied by domestic miners.
A study conducted by experts from the Geological Survey & Conformity Assessment Agency (GSCAA), which sampled coal from Oromia, South Western, Southern, and Benishangul Regional States, revealed that Ethiopian coal boasts a high energy content of 5,500 calories a unit. However, concerns persist within the cement industry on both the high impurity content and security issues surrounding its logistics.
One of the largest cement manufacturers in the country, Mugher Cement is found within the regional state, 90Km outside the capital. The state-owned enterprise, which produced approximately 5.6 million quintals of cement last year, obtained 246,506tns of coal from local suppliers and imported 64,925tns.
CEO Gezahegn Dechassa acknowledges that the majority of supply makes its way from the Southern Regional State due to better quality and fewer security concerns. However, the entire procurement process hinges on the quality and price of coal, with suppliers selected based solely on product type and energy content, according to Gezahegn.
“Whatever is mined not necessarily be procured by the factories,” he said.
