KENYA: The port of Mombasa has recorded an increase in the number of imported construction materials, a report shows. The report by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) points at a strengthening construction sector in the region, with import figures of the materials going up each week.
“The sector imported 59,866 metric tonnes of steel and 53,562 tonnes of cement clinker,’’ the report read in part. It further reckons that the two key construction materials – steel and clinker – were the leading imports in the conventional cargo terminal.
The terminal handled 153, 007 tonnes of cargo in the third week of July alone. Kenya depends on import for clinker, a key ingredient foe cement manufacturing. Against the backdrop of booming construction industry boosted by heavy investment in infrastructure and real estate, demand for cement and steel has been on a steady rise across the region. Fertilizer imports amounted to 22,345 metric tonnes. They were followed by containerised cargo, which amounted to 10,795 tonnes, and general cargo, which recorded 2,932 metric tonnes.
