Is Block Making Business Profitable in Zambia? Cost per 6-Inch Block in Solwezi

Short answer: yes, a machine-made block business is profitable in Zambia, and the best numbers today are in the mining province. In Solwezi, a machine-made 6-inch hollow block (400×200×150 mm) with 25 mm shells costs about K10.8 to make and sells for K14–18, a margin of about 23–40%. A BLOCKMASTER 4 running at full capacity and selling its full output makes ≈US$12,500 a month, even at the low end of the price range.

We use the method of our general guide is a block making business profitable, with Solwezi prices, so you can repeat it with yours.

Download the presentation (PDF, 5 pages): the same calculation as a presentation with the BLOCKMASTER 4, 8 and 10, to print or share.

The recipe: 73 blocks from one bag of cement

One of our customers made 7,500 hollow blocks of 400×200×150 mm with 30 mm shells, using:

• 120 bags of cement (50 kg)
• 3 trucks of sand, 18.5 m³ each (55.5 m³)
• 2 trucks of crushed stone, 18.5 m³ each (37 m³)

That is 62.5 blocks per bag. With 25 mm shells the same block needs about 14% less concrete, so one bag makes about 73 six-inch blocks. This works because the machine vibrates and presses the mix; hand-moulded blocks give far fewer.

In Zambia blocks are named only by thickness (4-, 6- or 8-inch); the face size is rarely stated. İBAR moulds make a 400×200 mm face, so if local blocks are smaller, compare prices per square metre of wall.

Our assumptions

• A BLOCKMASTER 4 or CBM 12 with a crew of 8, making 5,000 6-inch blocks a day at full capacity, 26 days a month, and the yard sells its full output.
• Cement K200 a bag; sand about K420 and crushed stone about K460 a tonne (K630 and K690 per m³). Workers K150 a day, above the legal minimum, because mining pushes pay up (our estimate).
• A generator burning about 45 litres of diesel a day at the national ERB price of K33.27 a litre; 6% added for water, curing, maintenance and breakage.
• Monthly profit is cautious: the low end of the price range, 5% material waste, 30% higher pay for skilled operators, 10% other costs and about US$1,500 a month of fixed costs (manager, security, rent).
• K20.2 (ZMW) to the US dollar. Prices change; check yours.

Cost per block in Solwezi

Cost item	6-inch block (400×200×150 mm)	8-inch block (400×200×200 mm)
Cement	K2.74	K3.12
Sand	K4.00	K4.54
Crushed stone	K2.92	K3.32
Labour	K0.24	K0.30
Generator diesel	K0.30	K0.37
Water, curing, maintenance, breakage (+6%)	K0.61	K0.70
Cost per block	≈K10.81	≈K12.35

Both use 25 mm shells; 8-inch blocks are made at 4,000 a day. Sand and stone cost more than cement; labour and diesel add well under K1 per block.

Selling price and profit per block

Block	Selling price in Solwezi	Profit per block	Margin
6-inch hollow	K14–18	K3.2–7.2	23–40%
8-inch hollow	K15–21	K2.7–8.7	18–41%

Prices come from the government's quarterly price index for North-Western Province, where the average 6-inch block rose from about K12 to K16 in one quarter. The 6-inch block earns most per day, because the machine makes 5,000 of them.

Profit by machine size

Monthly profit on 6-inch blocks with 25 mm shells in Solwezi, at the low end of the price range, 26 days a month, with the cautious costs above:

Machine	6-inch blocks a day	Crew	Fixed costs a month	Profit per month
BLOCKMASTER 4 / CBM 12	5,000	8	US$1,500	K253,000 (≈US$12,500)
BLOCKMASTER 8 / CBM 20	10,000	11	US$2,500	K562,000 (≈US$27,800)
BLOCKMASTER 10 / CBM 25	12,000	14	US$3,000	K683,000 (≈US$33,800)

We assume about 45, 70 and 70 litres of diesel a day.

25 mm or 30 mm shells: what is the difference?

6-inch block	Blocks per bag	Cost per block	Margin at K14–18
25 mm shells	73	≈K10.81	23–40%
30 mm shells	62.5	≈K12.51	11–30%

Thinner shells use less cement, sand and stone, so 25 mm shells are more profitable. A 30 mm shell gives a stronger block, and some contractors ask for it. Only the mould changes, so you can offer both.

The Zambian market

Mining expansions and housing

First Quantum's Kansanshi S3 expansion (about US$1.25 billion) is in production, and Barrick's Lumwana expansion is adding housing for its workers. Housing in Solwezi has not kept up with the mines and rents are high; nationally the shortfall is about 1.5 million homes.

Lusaka and the Copperbelt

In Lusaka and on the Copperbelt, sand and stone are expensive and 6-inch blocks sell for less. A yard there should use quarry dust instead of river sand, focus on 8-inch blocks and sell tested blocks to contractors. In the mining province prices are much better, which is why this guide is based on Solwezi.

Burnt clay bricks

The main competitor is the burnt clay brick at about K2. One block covers the wall area of many bricks, is laid faster with less mortar and is uniform, so sell on the cost of a finished square metre of wall.

Electricity, diesel and the kwacha

• ZESCO load-shedding reached 17 hours a day during the drought crisis. ZESCO no longer expects nationwide load-shedding, but keep a generator; our costs assume diesel only.
• Diesel has one national ERB price. VAT on fuel is due to return in December; if passed on in full, diesel could reach about K38.6, adding only about K0.05 per block.
• The kwacha lost 6% in a single day in October. Costs and prices are in kwacha, so dollar profit moves with it: at K22 to the dollar the BLOCKMASTER 4 figure is ≈US$11,500. Cement reached K250 a bag in a recent shortage, so buy by the truckload when prices are low.

Which machine for which volume?

• About 5,000 6-inch blocks a day: BLOCKMASTER 4 or CBM 12. The egg-laying MBM4 works without pallets.
• About 10,000 a day: BLOCKMASTER 8 or CBM 20.
• About 12,000 a day: BLOCKMASTER 10, or the CBM 25, which also makes paving blocks.

Plan your output with block machine capacity calculation; for mix design, see concrete block mix proportions.

What this calculation does not include

Land, buildings, a curing area, delivery trucks; depreciation, taxes, permits and loan repayments; unsold stock and slow rainy-season months.

Sources for the prices

• Blocks, cement, sand and stone: ZPPA Market Price Index (by province) and ZamStats. Diesel: ERB. Electricity: ZESCO. Exchange rate: Bank of Zambia.
• Labour: General Workers minimum wage order; Solwezi pay is our estimate. Mining and housing: National Housing Authority, Zambia Daily Mail, Times of Zambia, Lusaka Times.
• Solwezi has fewer published prices than Lusaka; treat them as estimates and check locally.

Frequently asked questions

How much profit per block in Zambia?

In Solwezi, about K3.2–7.2 on a machine-made 6-inch block with 25 mm shells, and K2.7–8.7 on an 8-inch block, using the prices in this guide.

How many blocks from one bag of cement?

With a vibrating machine: about 73 six-inch blocks (400×200×150 mm) with 25 mm shells, 62.5 with 30 mm shells, or about 64.2 eight-inch blocks with 25 mm shells.

Is the block business profitable in Lusaka?

Margins in Lusaka are much thinner than in the mining province, because sand and stone cost more and blocks sell for less. The right setup helps: quarry dust instead of river sand, a focus on 8-inch blocks and sales to contractors who pay for tested quality. Send us your Lusaka prices and we will run the numbers with you before you invest.

Does İBAR MAKİNA install the machine in Zambia?

Yes. We build our machines in our own factory in Çerkezköy, Türkiye, with more than 45 years of experience and installations in more than 30 countries. Installation and operator training are included in the price, machines carry a 2-year warranty and spare parts ship from stock the same day.

Send us your town, the blocks you want to make and your target daily output on WhatsApp, and we will recommend a machine and run these numbers with your local prices.