Per Emerginvest, “for over 65 years, East African Portland Cement (Nairobi Stock Exchange: PORT) has been Kenya’s leading Cement Manufacturer. By providing the lifeblood of the national construction industry, they have played a central role in the building of Kenya. East African Portland Products have built the foundations of housing, education, health, tourism, transport and communication, and hydro-electric power projects throughout Kenya.”

Now onto the good news, per The Daily Nation:

East Africa Portland Cement Company is now eying the export market after it doubled its production from January 2008. Managing director Eng. John Nyambok said that although the construction sector was expected to slow down due to reduced remittances from abroad, increased use of cement in road building would cushion the company from reduced sales. It is expected there will be a blip in the construction sector, but the small loss will be covered by increased use of cement in road construction, he said.

Specifically, according to Nyambok, the expansion of Thika road, and the construction of the Wajir and Kisumu airports, are among projects that are expected to increase the demand for cement in Kenya during the coming year. Nyambok also said that similar infrastructure development in Uganda and Rwanda will further boost market demand. Other countries the company is eyeing include Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Sudan. There are internationally funded projects worth USD 200m in Uganda and another USD 80min Rwanda, and East African Portland will seek to increase their share value in these countries and others in the region. Nyambok says that the firm will concentrate in the coming year on “developing its own power with the aim of ultimately shifting to use of coal by the end of 2009,” as well as attempting to reduce production costs through economies of scale.