malvernmugadzikwa
Aaron Charungwa Moyo
TEXTILE manufacturer David Whitehead Textiles Limited (DWTL) will have the capacity to produce more than 10 million metres of fabric and gin up to 5 000 tonnes of cotton lint annually when it reopens its plant and begins operating at full capacity in December.
Last year, Agri Value Chain Zimbabwe (AVCZ) — a local agriculture consortium — poured US$20 million into resuscitating DWTL. It has since procured high-tech fabric manufacturing equipment to restart operations. Installation of the equipment is scheduled to be complete by year-end.
A new multi-million-dollar plant — comprising a cotton ginning factory and a state-of-the-art oil extraction plant to crush cotton, soyabean, sunflower and canola seeds — has already been installed.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail on the sidelines of the Cotton Indaba held in Harare on Thursday last week, Cotton Ginners Association of Zimbabwe chairperson Mr Jonas Chindanya said DWTL’s reopening will foster accelerated growth of the cotton industry.
“The reopening of fabric manufacturer David Whitehead Textiles Limited by Agri Value Chain Zimbabwe, which was recently commissioned by the President, has reawakened the industry,” he said.
“The company plans to produce 10 million metres of fabric annually and has a ginning capacity of between 4 000 to 5 000 tonnes of cotton lint, as the plants are in their final stages of being completed in Chegutu.”
Upon reopening, the DWTL plant will have the capacity to spin, knit, weave and dye fabric.
Cotton Council of Zimbabwe chief executive officer Engineer Chris Murove said the company’s revival will also create employment opportunities.
“At its height, the cotton industry used to support hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers who grew the crop under the Cotton Marketing Board and later the Cotton Company of Zimbabwe,” said Eng Murove.
“While the cotton industry has previously declined, production of the crop has rebounded on the back of support by the Government through the provision of free inputs to cotton farmers.”
He urged Government to enhance its support to the cotton value chain.
The Presidential Cotton Support Scheme targeting subsistence farmers, Eng Murove added, was working wonders for the sector.
AVCZ is a subsidiary of the Indian-owned ETG Parrogate Group, which has investments in Zimbabwe and Africa.
The company has four cotton ginneries in the country — Checheche, Rushinga, Chegutu and Glendale.
* X: @AaronMo98206740
Online Reporter