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Kiyapili Sibanda, Business Reporter
ALMIN Metal Industries Limited has opened a distribution unit at the former Radiator and Tinning premises in Belmont, Bulawayo, with plans to set up a manufacturing plant in the city.
The Harare-based company was founded in 1969 and has vertically integrated aluminium processing capabilities comprising a fully equipped extrusion plant and metal finishing operations such as anodizing, powder coating and further fabrication.
It operates a Remelt facility for melting, alloying and casting extrusion billet and also operates a light metal foundry having adopted a one-stop shop model under its Almin Shopfitters for fabrication and installation of complete aluminium windows and doors to client specifications.
Company general manager southern region, Mr Mario Calaca, said the new sales unit in Bulawayo was opened last week to cater for the market that is outside Harare.
“We opened here in Bulawayo last week on Monday and so far the response has been good. We want to penetrate the Southern region market and planning to set up other shops in areas like Masvingo and Kwekwe,” he said.
Mr Calaca told Business Chronicle that Bulawayo was ripe for business and reported that in their first week they managed to hit a weekly target of 65 percent on the sales. He said it was important for customers to buy locally manufactured products as this boosts the economy, which in turn creates job opportunities in the economy.
Mr Calaca commended use of plastic and mobile money by customers saying this helps businesses and reduces demand for cash.
“Plastic money and the use of mobile banking facilities have helped a lot of companies. Customers have no need to carry cash as we know that the country is experiencing some cash shortages. They can now buy using their cards or phones and this also makes life far much easier because they don’t need to spend much of their time in bank queues,” he said.
Mr Calaca, however, complained over challenges faced when importing critical materials due to cash situation and import bottlenecks.
He said their long term plan was to set up an aluminium manufacturing plant in Bulawayo to create more job opportunities for local people.
“In the long run we are planning to set up an aluminium manufacturing plant for to manufacture the windows and doors locally. We want to look at what the market demands and then we move forward and this will also create job opportunities in the city of Bulawayo,” he said. — @Kiyaz_Cool
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