BUSINESS & ECONOMY INDICATORS TRENDS FORTUNE+ VIDEO TENDERS JOBS SPONSORED CONTENTS FORTUNE AUDIO

COVID-19 UPDATES: All the stories and commentaries on Coronavirus, in one place


Trading Firm Ventures into Marble Processing

The company was previously exporting agricultural commodities

June 29 , 2019
By SELAMAWIT MENGESAHA ( FORTUNE STAFF WRITER )

One of the 11 machines imported for marble cutting and polishing arrives at the new plant owned by Chweani Import & Export Plc, which has invested 41 million Br in machinery.

A Chinese trading company is setting up a marble processing plant with an investment of 130 million Br.

Located in Bahir Dar, Amhara Regional State, the company started production in mid-June with a capacity of processing 400Sqm of polished marble a day. The company sells the marble for a price that ranges between 953 Br to 1,300 Br a square metre. The marble will be supplied to hotels, commercial buildings, residential houses and other construction projects.

Chweani Import & Export Plc has invested 41 million Br to import 11 marble cutting and polishing machines from Turkey. MKS, a Turkish company which has been manufacturing stone, marble and granite processing, cutting and polishing machinery since 1978, has supplied and installed the company's machinery with a two-year guarantee.



For the investment, Chweani borrowed 20 million Br from the Development Bank of Ethiopia. Chweani has also partnered with marble suppliers from the area of Mankush, Guba Wereda, Metekel Zone, Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State.

For the production, the company is buying two containers to transport, 60tn, of marble a day, paying 6,500 Br for one cubic metre of marble from suppliers.


Ethiopia is endowed with marble resources in different places around the country including in Benishangul Gumuz, Tigray and Amhara regional states.




Established in 2010, Chweani has been engaged with the export of agriculture commodities such as grains, oilseeds, pulses and spices. It is also engaged in the construction rental business. The company generates five million dollars a year from the export of oilseeds, pulses and species. It currently operates with 37 workers, which the company will increase to 100 with the marble manufacturing plant.

"The main aim of the company is to substitute imports," said Adugna Alem, general manager, adding that the company plans to export its products after meeting the local demand.

Between 2002 and 2011, on average, the country imported 37,011Sqm of processed marble annually.


In the last fiscal year, the country exported 2,063Sqm of marble from the total national production of 35,137Sqm. About 70pc of the marble is supplied to the local market. In the country, there are three small local producers and eight large companies that secured licenses for the production of marble.

The company received an investment license for the newly-built plant from the Amhara Investment Commission in 2016, joining 416 medium and 110 large industries established with 30 billion Br of investment in Amhara Regional State. These industries have created 25,000 jobs.

The company can play a big role in saving foreign currency through import substitution and stabilising the price of marble, according to Henok Semaw, dean of business & economics at Haramaya University.

But Henok fears that the automated machinery of the company will minimise the job opportunity the company would create, saying that one of the benefits of investment is playing a role in reducing the unemployment rate in the country.


PUBLISHED ON Jun 29,2019 [ VOL 20 , NO 1000]



Related Posts

Editors' Pick

Fortune News

NO GASOIL! WHY?

June 27 , 2020 . By SEBLE WONDEMAGEGN

Ethiopia is no stranger to the shortage of fuel. But drivers have lately been greeted by a sign that reads “No Gasoil” at gas stations,...

Agenda

Gasoil Shortage Irks Drivers, Gas Stations

June 27 , 2020 . By SEBLE WONDEMAGEGN

Over the last week, main roads of the capital were crowded and the traffic was heavy since most of the ro...

Editorial

With Cat out of Bag, Better to Double Down on Statehood

June 27 , 2020

In the popular imagination, Ethiopia's current federal organisation was the brainchild of leaders of an a...

Commentaries

Egypt’s Shifting Positions, Intransigence, Fear Politics Slow GERD Talks

June 27 , 2020 . By Fisseha Adugna

The dramatic events between Ethiopia and Egypt over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) have only...

Commentaries

What Internet Shutdowns Say About the State

Taken for granted in the general tumult of the recent crisis is the notion that the f...

Lack of Long Game, Achilles Heel of Ethiopia's Politics

Social reengineering is a complex enterprise. It hardly ever goes the way it is envis...

Fineline

Getachew Reda . . .

Getachew Reda, the increasingly combative spin doctor of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), says he is no longer optimistic about...

There were a series of meetings by almost all the chiefs of the regional states in...

After they made a portentous decision last week in passing a resolution at the House of Federation where...

Editorial

Where Did it all Go Wrong? Lessons from History

July 10 , 2020

When the situation was manageable, it was neglected, and now that it is thoroughly o...

With Cat out of Bag, Better to Double Down on Statehood

June 27 , 2020

In the popular imagination, Ethiopia's current federal organisation was the brainchil...

Egypt Changes Water Security Strategy, the Answer to Nile Dispute

June 20 , 2020

The messages from Washington, DC are unambiguous. They urge Ethiopia to relent to Egy...

History May Look Back on this Time as Needless Moment

June 17 , 2020

It is characteristic of the general climate of confusion the year 2020 has set in Eth...

Gallery

IN-PICTURE: LAUREATE'S RECEPTION  

December 14 , 2019

President Sahle-Work Zewde hosted a state dinner reception to congratulate and welcome the Prime Minister on his return home from Oslo, Norway, where he accepted the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize two days earlier...

PM Abiy Ahmed (PhD) at a Gala Dinner Called for the Awarding of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize

May 6 , 2019

Faces, Voices of Addis Abeba

April 26 , 2019

Mourning Nation, Grieving World

March 17 , 2019

THE FINISH LINE

March 16 , 2019

Pizza Hut Triples Branches

February 2 , 2019

Sunday With Eden

Golden Rule, Antidote to Our Instincts for Violence

It is heartbreaking to witness the distressing developments within the Ethiopian stat...

All the Single Male Parents

Men and women, one much more than the other, are biased against women. This is one of the key reasons fundamental improvement has become una...

Life Matters

Understandable Pain, Hard to Swallow Destruction

I find most news stories to be dull and boring. Imagine my surprise then when my uncle called me up at 8...

The Hypocrite's Dilemma

In the early hours of a misty morning, two middle-aged female residents of the poorly electrified condominium of Bole Bulbula sit on their s...

In-Picture

PEACOCK GATES

April 4 , 2020

GOOD SAMARITAN

April 4 , 2020

PART RECREATION

March 14 , 2020

BUS STOPS

March 7 , 2020

To the Brim

February 22 , 2020

Sanctioned Graffiti

June 20 , 2020

Yonas Berehe and Andualem Moges, artists of Ya Studio, are painting street art for the city in Megenagna, after getting the green light from Yeka District. They are painting portraits of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD), Lia Tadesse (MD) and Deputy Ma...

Drop us a message

Or see contact page