The company Cements of Beira reports losses estimated in ten million meticais due to storm Chalane, in late December 2020, and cyclone Eloise, in January this year.
The commercial director of the company, Paulo Cavalheiro, said that the loss was mostly caused by the destruction of the warehouse that stores the raw material for cement production.
“Chalane did not cause us major problems, although we lost some production that was already in place and ready to load, nothing major, while with cyclone Eloise we lost half the roof of our clinker warehouse, which cannot be exposed to weather, neither sun nor rain. Therefore, we made a plan to reinforce the cover of our warehouse, but we are making efforts to contract a company for its definitive repair”, he said.
Paulo Cavalheiro laments the fact that companies are not receiving support for the mitigation of the damage caused by the bad weather.
“We are talking about Chalane and Eloise today, but we are still in the process with the insurance companies to get Idai’s insurance back. So this time we have taken the initiative to secure our own interests with our own resources,” he said.
After Cyclone Idai, the government set up the Reconstruction Office to ensure post-disaster reconstruction and recovery in the affected areas.
The body has conducted a “complex” audit, the results of which have not yet been made public.
“We have not yet felt the impact of this office’s projects here in Beira. The last information that I have in my memory, six months ago, stated that there were still not enough funds and that they were surveying the budgets of the companies to be able to plan according to the funds that were allocated to them,” said Cavalheiro.
If, on the one hand, the storms created huge losses for companies, on the other hand, Cimentos da Beira, given the nature of its business, is hoping to see the balance of its operations quickly restored, due to the growing demand for cement, an indispensable raw material in reconstruction projects.
“This demand has eased the burden on the company’s accounts. There has been an increase in cement demand throughout 2020. In relation to this year, we have not yet evaluated, but the months of January and February have not helped us much because of the frequent rains, and this not only hinders the delivery of cement, but also hinders construction,” he elucidated.
