By Wilfred Mwakalosi
June 12 (Bloomberg) -- Lee Building Materials Ltd., a Chinese company, plans to start construction of a $12.5 million cement factory in Tanzania in September, said the companys country representative, Feng Hu.
The plant, located about 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Dar es Salaam, will have a capacity of 300,000 metric tons a year, he said by phone today.
The factory will add to Tanzanias cement surplus. The country produces 3 million tons a year, compared with demand of 2.1 million. Local producers complain that they cant compete with imports from Pakistan, China and India following a cut in import tariffs to 25 percent from 40 percent in 2008.
Local cement producers include units of Germanys HeidelbergCement AG, Frances Lafarge SA and Tanga Cement Co. Ltd.