A belting from smuggled wares

Africa Moyo
GENERAL BELTINGS – Zimbabwe’s sole manufacturer of conveyer belts and utility rubber products used by industrialists – is smarting from cheap smuggled products. Government has promulgated Statutory Instrument 126 of 2014 to block importation of cheap conveyor belts.

However, smuggled conveyor belts find their way onto the local market and are crowding out General Beltings’ products. The company’s group MD Mr Wilbroad Tsuroh said last week there was need to devise new ways to stop smugglers. “We were covered under SI 126 of 2014 but the measures are inadequate.

Like all measures which are put in place, there are some challenges with some imports still coming in as data from the Zimstat (Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency) would show.  “We are obviously working together with Government to close loopholes of where those products are coming from. There is still quite a significant amount of imports coming in,” said Mr Tsuroh.

In August, Zimstat reported that the country’s imports jumped to US$443 million in August from US$394 million in July despite the introduction of SI 64 of 2016 that is designed to promote revival of local companies through restriction of certain imports. An influx of imports and absence of cheap financing have conspired to affect General Beltings’ operations.

The firm started to regain its footing after accessing US$1 million from the Distressed and Marginalised Areas Fund (Dimaf) which was used to procure raw materials. Dimaf was a platform where companies received long-term loans at relatively lower interest rates through a revolving fund.

General Beltings has entered technical alliances with foreign suppliers of raw materials, which has enabled it to competitively price its products. The company supplies conveyer belts to some of the country’s biggest mining houses such as Zimplats and Mimosa.

In the half-year to June 30, 2016, the firm saw renewed interest from key local customers but still saw an eight percent slump in volumes for the rubber division. Overall, volumes rose to 478 metric tonnes in the review period compared to 441mt a year ago. As a result, turnover fell 25 percent to US$1,62 million.

However, the company’s order book has recently been growing and hopes that improved capacity utilisation and overhead recovery will positively impact on its fortunes.