2merkato

Artmetal is expanding into the production of machine tools and local ferric finished products to fill a perceived need in the market in Ethiopia according to Seid Hassen, General Manager of Artmetal parent company, Wide Business plc.

Artmetal was previously engaged in just the import of iron which costs much less than importing finished machine tools he said.

The Artmetal Supply and Ferric Processing and Engineering Factory in Alem Gena was expanded at a cost of 18 million birr to increase its production capacity to 600 cubic meters of ferric products monthly. 

A study conducted by the Common Market of Eastern and Southern revealed that Ethiopia’s manufacturing secure is not yet ready to be competitive internationally and is showing little sign of improvement.

The study was commissioned by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and financed by the COMESA secretariat.

Problems noted by the study include slow productivity, high production costs, shortage and low quality of raw materials, shortage in foreign exchange, lack of skilled manpower, and frequent power interruptions.

Moha Soft Drinks, producer of Pepsi products in Ethiopia, is set to extract 300,000 liters of ground water every day from a well drilled on the premises of its plant in the Teklehaymanot area of Addis Ababa.

The plant, which produced 17,000 cases of soft drinks per day, had stopped production over the past month due to water shortages, creating a scarcity of Pepsi products on the local market.

The shortage in Pepsi products has affected consumers in Addis Ababa and surrounding areas according to retailers.

The Awash Melkasa Aluminum Sulfate and Sulfuric Acid Factory announced plans to establish a hydrogen peroxide factory in Ethiopia.

The hydrogen peroxide factory, which will begin construction soon will cost an estimated 155 million birr according to Admasu Tabaeto, Production and Technical Support Process Owner with Awash Melkasa.

Assela Malt Factory, Ethiopia is to launch another production facility to increase the company’s production capacity to 61, 000 tons, an increase of 144%.

The new addition to the factory is expected to cost 280 million birr.

The malt factory made the decision to expand due to the increasing demand for malt on the national market forcing beer factories to import malt according to Kiros Abreha General Manager of Assela Malt Factory.