ARM Cement Limited, formerly Athi River Mining Limited, but commonly referred to as ARM is a

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

and

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

company in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, the largest economy in the

East African Community The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation in East Africa. The EAC's membership consists of eight states: Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, S ...

. The company is headquartered in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

and its stock is listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange.

Overview

ARM Cement is one of the largest manufactures of cement in Eastern Africa, accounting for 2.6 metric tonnes annually in 2014. ARM has operations in

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Products manufactured include

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

fertilizers A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrition, plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from Liming (soil), liming materials or other non- ...

quicklime Calcium oxide (formula: Ca O), commonly known as quicklime or burnt lime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, caustic, alkaline, crystalline solid at room temperature. The broadly used term '' lime'' connotes calcium-containin ...

hydrated lime Calcium hydroxide (traditionally called slaked lime) is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula calcium, Ca(Hydroxide, OH)2. It is a colorless crystal or white powder and is produced when quicklime (calcium oxide) is mixed with water. A ...

sodium silicate Sodium silicate is a generic name for chemical compounds with the formula or ·, such as sodium metasilicate (), sodium orthosilicate (), and sodium pyrosilicate (). The anions are often polymeric. These compounds are generally colorless tra ...

and other

industrial minerals Industrial resources (minerals) are geological materials that are mined for their commercial value, which are not fuel (Fuel, fuel minerals or mineral fuels) and are not sources of metals (metallic minerals) but are used in the industries based ...

. A new factory planned in

Kitui Kitui is a town and capital of Kitui County in Kenya, 185 kilometres east of Nairobi and 105 kilometres east of Machakos. it covers an area approximately 30,496.4 km squares and lies between latitudes 0°10 South and 3°0 South and long ...

, Kenya, is expected online in three to four years and will cost an estimated US$400 million to construct. Once operational, Kitui will increase ARM Cement Limited's production capacity to 5 million tonnes annually. As of December 2013, the company's total assets were valued at US$340 million (KES:29.7 billion), with shareholders' equity of about US$94 million (KES:8.223 billion). Currently the Kenyan Operations Taken over by National Cement Kenya (Simba cement) and the Tanzanian Operations by Huaxin Cement a chinese firm.

History

ARM was founded in 1974 by the late Harjivandas J. Paunrana as a producer of

agricultural lime Agricultural lime, also called aglime, agricultural limestone, garden lime or liming, is a soil additive made from pulverized limestone or chalk. The primary active component is calcium carbonate. Additional chemicals vary depending on the mineral ...

. His son, Pradeep Paunrana, is the current

Managing Director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the company. In Kenya, the company has factories in

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

and

Athi River Athi River is a town outside Nairobi, Kenya in Machakos County. The town is named after the Athi-Galana-Sabaki River, Athi River, which passes through. It is also known as Mavoko. Athi River hosts the Mavoko Municipal Council and is the headq ...

, where their first cement factory was established in 1994. Cement production at Athi River commenced in 1996.

Shareholding

, the major shareholders in the company

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

are as displayed in the table below:

Company divisions

The company is divided into the following divisions: ;Cement The company brand, "Rhino Cement" is manufactured in Kaloleni and

in Kenya, and at company owned factories in Tanga and

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

. ARM Cement maintains shareholding in Kigali Cement Company, a cement company in

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

and in a

n cement company. ; Mineral and Chemicals The division is responsible for the manufacture of "Special Building Products, Sodium Silicate and Industrial Minerals. ; Fertilizers This division produces fertilizer at the Athi River factory, under the brand "Mavuno Fertilizer". ; Rhino Foundation Established in 2010, to invest in the communities where ARM Cement has a presence.

Financial distress

According to

The EastAfrican ''The EastAfrican'' is a weekly newspaper published in Kenya since 7 November 1994, by the Nation Media Group, which also publishes Kenya's national ''Daily Nation''. The ''EastAfrican'' also circulates in the other countries of the African Grea ...

newspaper, ARM Cement was placed into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

in 2018, due to its inability to service its debts and meet its day-to-day financial obligations. ''George Weru'' and ''Muniu Thoithi'' of

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, alon ...

were appointed as joint administrators. The Nairobi Stock Exchange suspended the trading of the company

, on 8 May 2020. After the sale of some of the company assets in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Africa, the joint administrators recommended the liquidation of the company, because the company assets could not fetch a price to match the amount owed to secured and unsecured creditors, in addition to shareholders. The liquidation process is expected to start on 30 September 2021. At the time ARM went into "receivership" on 18 August 2018, its total debt burden was approximately US$284 million.

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

ARM Cement Limited Website
Companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange Companies in the NSE 20 Share Index Machakos County Mining companies of Kenya Manufacturing companies based in Nairobi Manufacturing companies established in 1974 Cement companies of Kenya Non-renewable resource companies established in 1974 Kenyan companies established in 1974