Forex challenges push PPC towards exports…..Harare plant to drive the initiative

15 Sep, 2017 - 00:09 0 Views
Forex challenges push PPC towards exports…..Harare plant to drive the initiative PPC Zimbabwe

eBusiness Weekly

Tinashe Makichi
Giant cement manufacturer, PPC Zimbabwe, will resume exports into the region even at a loss, in order to earn foreign currency which is currently in short supply in the country.

PPC Zimbabwe managing director Kelibone Masiyane, told the Business Weekly that the company has no option but to export despite the challenges likely to be faced in highly competitive regional cement market.

Between 2014 and 2015 the company was exporting about 100 000 tonnes of cement annually into the region but due to pricing and depreciation of regional currencies, exports had drastically gone down.

Exports are a priority for the company at the moment but there are still challenges. We are finding it difficult from a pricing point of view because of the high cost of manufacturing in Zimbabwe and secondly, the regional currencies at the same time depreciated against the United States dollar.

“In 2014 and 2015, we used to export slightly over 100 000 tonnes a year but right now our exports are virtually nothing. However, with the current foreign currency crisis we don’t have an option but to export,” said Masiyane.

“The recently commissioned Harare plant has expanded our footprint in the country and this is likely going to see us tapping into Zambia, Mozambique and all those countries within reach. We are even prepared to export at a loss in some markets,” he said.

The new Harare plant saw the cement producer doubling its capacity to 1,4 million tonnes from 700 000 tonnes per year. Masiyane said the Harare plant has already started making an impact with volumes picking beyond expectations.

We are still the biggest producer of cement in the country and this has been further enhanced by the Harare plant, which has since doubled our capacity to 1,4 million tonnes a year from 700 000 tonnes.

“We have already started seeing the impact of the Harare plant, volumes are picking up and going beyond our expectations especially in the current economy,” said Masiyane. Despite the current performance by the company Masiyane said imports still remain a threat to local cement manufacturers.

The cement company recently hinted on the possibility of shuting down its Collen Bawn plant in Gwanda citing pressure from cheap imported clinker by other producers and smuggled cement. The Collen Bawn factory is the backbone of PPC’s operations in the country responsible for lime mining and production of clinker, a major raw material in cement manufacturing.

Masiyane said the cement manufacturer has since appealed to Government for protection saying unless measures were put in place to curb cheap imports, the giant firm risks losing its more than 70 years investment at Colleen Bawn. The situation could also trigger loss of jobs and compromise livelihoods for nearly 4 000 people in the community who depend on the factory.

Established in 1913, Portland Holdings Ltd, which trades as PPC Zimbabwe, is the country?s largest and oldest cement manufacturer.

For over 100 years, PPC Zimbabwe has produced cement for many of Zimbabwe’s most famous landmarks such as Victoria Falls, Kariba Dam and the current Kariba South expansion project, Harare International Airport, the National Railways of Zimbabwe building, Lake Mutirikwi and many other construction projects.

 

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