Tororo Cement loses limestone tender deal to India’s Sanghi

“No, we do not have any interests in Kenyan limestone,� he said on phone.
He said there was adequate limestone in Uganda to supply input to the factory.

Mr Gagrani also denied that TCI had expressed interest in exploiting Mutumo District limestone although sources and media reports hint that the industry was among firms bidding for the Eastern Kenya’s granite.

Currently, TCI extracts limestone as far as Karenga in Karamoja along the Uganda-Sudan boarder to cushion the declining deposits in Tororo District.
The depletion in limestone deposits in Tororo District has compelled the cement plant to stretch to far sediments, a development projected to increase costs of production and subsequently cement prices.

Cement prices in early April registered an 8% increase from Shs25000- Shs27000, a hike TCI Managing Director, Mr Gagrani attributed to the effect of factory maintenance and instability in the Uganda shilling, which he said was temporary.

Tororo Cement controls the largest share in the market with 55 percent stake followed by western Uganda-located Hima Cement.

Despite the existence of the two cement firms in the country, cement remains one the industrial products Uganda imports from the regional market.