Cement Prices Surge Zim Runs Out of the Commodity

By A Correspondent — Cement prices have shot up in recent weeks as Zimbabwe grapples with a deepening shortage of the crucial construction material.

The price of a 50kg bag has almost doubled in the past two months—from about US$12 to roughly US$20—fuelled by surging demand and mounting constraints on both domestic production and imports.


The spike is being blamed on a combination of factors: soaring construction activity, exhausted import quotas, and persistent operational challenges at local manufacturing plants. While construction usually peaks between April and November, ahead of the rainy season, demand this year has remained unusually strong even beyond that period.

Zimbabwe relies significantly on cement imports from neighbouring Zambia, but those inflows have dropped sharply in recent weeks. Several major importers have already exhausted their annual quotas, cutting off a critical external supply stream at a time when the local market is heating up.

Although the country’s cement industry has an installed production capacity of about 2.6 million tonnes per year, actual output has been inconsistent. Major producers have been battling severe power shortages, ageing equipment, and other operational setbacks that have undermined their ability to meet national demand.

Khayah Cement—one of the key players—has been hit particularly hard, facing ongoing financial difficulties and intermittent production shutdowns. These stoppages have further squeezed supply, contributing to the shortages now being felt most acutely in Harare and other major urban centres.

The combined pressure of dwindling imports and unreliable domestic production has triggered the latest wave of price hikes, leaving consumers and contractors scrambling as the construction sector heads into its busiest stretch.