eBusiness Weekly
HARARE – Cement manufacturer, Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) on Monday said sales from its Zimbabwe operations for the nine months to December 31 last year increased by between 30 to 40 percent. PPC is a South African cement producing company with operations in several other countries on the continent including Rwanda, the DRC and Botswana.
In Zimbabwe, PPC operates three plants including the new $82 million plant in Harare, which was commissioned in August last year and produces 700 000 tons of cement. The other two plants are in Bulawayo and Colleen Bawn near Gwanda, with combined annual production of 700 000 tons, bringing the total annual production of the company to 1,4 million tons of cement. In a trading update, PPC said its Zimbabwe business continued to surpass expectations.
“PPC Zimbabwe continues to exceed expectations, with sales volumes growing by 30 to 40 percent compared to last year, supported by the retail segment,” the company said.
“Pricing, in US dollars, has marginally exceeded that of the prior year. We continue to closely monitor the liquidity situation in Zimbabwe.” It said in Rwanda, sales volumes grew by between 20 to 30 percent as pricing remained relatively stable.
“Successful implementation of the route to market strategy (in Rwanda) with a rise in bulk demand and increased export volumes has contributed to the positive performance,” it said. In the DRC, an improvement in monthly sales was recorded beginning September last year.
“Whilst the trading environment has remained competitive, with muted growth, we have succeeded in increasing our market share further towards the end of the period to between 25 to 30 percent.” PPC chief executive Johan Claassen said the company continued to make good progress in growing its footprint and market.
“We successfully negotiated a two-year moratorium on capital repayments in the DRC, which has further improved our liquidity position. We have maintained our market leading position in South Africa despite the competitive trading environment. The Rest of Africa portfolio continues to grow, delivering solid results ahead of the same period last year,” he said. – New Ziana