This case study follows a used ELKOMIX-120 concrete batching plant relocated from a construction site near Hamburg, Germany, to a new infrastructure project in Nairobi, Kenya. The move was completed in 16 weeks from the initial site inspection to full commissioning — on budget and with zero damage to any plant component.
The plant was a 2018 ELKOMIX-120 with approximately 40,000 m³ of total production. It had been well maintained by its previous owner — a German civil engineering firm — with complete service records, original manuals in German and English, and a documented parts history. The mixer liners had been replaced 8 months before the move and were in good condition. The electrical system was Siemens S7-1200 PLC with a Siemens HMI. The main structural steel showed minor surface rust but no section loss. We classified the plant as "Good — ready for relocation with standard preparation." The valuation was performed by an independent machinery appraiser, which was essential for the Kenyan import customs process.
Our team of four dismantling technicians spent 11 days on-site in Hamburg. The dismantling followed our standard procedure: full photographic documentation, colour-coded tagging of every electrical cable (52 cables, 14 terminal blocks), numbered flange tags on all material and pneumatic pipes, and component-to-container mapping before any container was loaded. The plant filled two 40 ft flat-rack containers (mixer unit, silo sections, structural steel) and one 40 ft high-cube container (control panel, screw conveyors, weigh hoppers, spare parts, and tools). All electronic components were packed in VCI film with desiccant. The total packed weight was 42 tonnes. A special challenge was the twin-shaft mixer — at over 12 tonnes, it required a 50-tonne mobile crane for loading and custom steel cradles welded into the flat-rack container to prevent movement during sea transit.
The containers were trucked from Hamburg to the Port of Hamburg, loaded on a container ship bound for Mombasa, Kenya (transit time: 21 days via the Suez Canal and around the Horn of Africa). The shipping route was chosen for direct service — avoiding transshipment in a hub port reduces both risk and timeline. Kenya's import procedures required a Certificate of Used Machinery (issued by a recognised inspection agency), a clean inspection report from the German side, and a full packing list and commercial invoice. Customs duty was calculated at 10% of the CIF value, plus 16% VAT — a predictable cost that was included in the project budget. Our local clearance agent in Mombasa pre-filed the customs documentation while the ship was still at sea, so the containers cleared customs within 3 days of arrival.
The containers arrived at Mombasa Port on Day 0. Customs clearance took 3 days. Trucking to Nairobi took 2 days. On-site installation began on Day 6 with a crew of six (two from our team, four locally hired). The foundation was already prepared by the client based on our drawings. Structural assembly took 5 days, mechanical installation 6 days, electrical wiring 4 days, and calibration/commissioning 2 days. The plant produced its first concrete batch on Day 25 after container arrival — 19 days of on-site work. The contractor was producing commercial concrete for their road project by the end of week 3. The total on-site time was within the planned schedule and well within the time frame typical for plants of this size.
| Category | Cost (EUR) |
|---|---|
| Site inspection and plant valuation | 3,500 |
| Dismantling and packing (11 days, 4 technicians) | 16,000 |
| Consumables (VCI film, desiccant, timber, steel cradles) | 2,800 |
| Freight (3 containers, Hamburg to Mombasa) | 11,400 |
| Marine insurance (full replacement value) | 2,100 |
| Customs duties and VAT (Kenya) | 9,600 |
| Inland trucking (Mombasa to Nairobi) | 1,800 |
| Installation and commissioning (19 days, crew + crane hire) | 28,000 |
| Travel and accommodation | 5,800 |
| Total | 81,000 |
The total cost of EUR 81,000 was significantly less than the cost of a new equivalent plant (approximately EUR 180,000-220,000 for an ELKOMIX-120 delivered and installed in Africa), representing a saving of over 55% for the client. The client recovered their investment in the relocation cost through the first 7 months of production.
Three key lessons stand out. First, the pre-inspection investment was invaluable — catching a worn screw conveyor bearing during inspection allowed us to replace it in Germany (EUR 180 part) rather than replacing the entire screw conveyor in Nairobi (EUR 3,200 part plus downtime). Second, the local agent in Mombasa was essential: pre-filing customs paperwork while the ship was in transit saved a week of port demurrage. Third, commissioning in East Africa required planning for power quality issues — we discovered that the site's generator voltage fluctuated by ±8%, so we installed a voltage stabiliser for the control panel before commissioning. These are exactly the kind of local conditions that a general international freight forwarder would not anticipate, but a specialist batching plant relocation partner handles as routine.
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