One Indian and four Chinese companies offered tenders for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of Habesha Cement Factory.

These were five of the six companies that responded to the company's bid by the deadline, Monday, February 15, 2010. Nine companies had initially emerged when the company requested expression of interest. The sixth company was rejected because it did not submit a bid security, according to Mesfin Abi (Eng.), general manager of Habesha.

Of the four Chinese companies, Sinoma International and CDI-Changdu Cement Research Institute are already involved in the installation of machinery for the expansion project of Mugher Cement Factory. The other two, Hefei Cement Research Institute and Northern Heavy Industries, are undertaking similar projects for Messobe and National cement factories, respectively. Walchandnagar Heavy Industries, the Indian company, which has been working in the sugar industry, is venturing into the cement industry for the first time, Mesfin said.

The technical and financial evaluations will be completed and the result announced within three months. The company will select the firm to do the consultancy work for the EPC within two weeks, according to Mesfin.

The selection will be made from three Indian firms, Tata, Clair and Holtech, and one Pakistani firm, Cementech.

The project is expected to take 22 months and cost one billion Birr, according to the general manager.

Habesha expects to inject into the market 1.2 million tonnes of cement annually, more than half of the two million tonnes currently produced by Mugher, Messobo, Derba MIDROC, Abyssinia, Jema and National cement factories.

The Ministry of Works and Urban Development (MoWUD) had to import two million tonnes in 2008/09 to supplement the domestic production which had declined because of the power cut during most of the year.

National demand is expected to soar to 13.8 million tonnes in five years, according to Habesha's prospectus, while the local supply will rise to only eight million tonnes.