dyton mupawaenda
Joseph Madzimure-Senior Reporter
DINSON Iron and Steel Company (Disco) in Manhize near Mvuma will be commissioned next month, Minister of Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Affairs Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa has said.
The development of the steelworks, poised to be one of Africa’s largest integrated steel plants, began last year with an initial production deadline of August this year but this has since been moved to December following delays caused by the good rains the country experienced early this year.
Disco is one of the three local subsidiaries of China’s largest stainless steel producer, Tsingshan Holdings Group Limited.
It also owns Dinson Colliery in Hwange in Matabeleland North and a ferrochrome plant, Afrochine Smelting Limited, in Selous.
Speaking at the Samora Machel Memorial Lecture in Mozambique yesterday, Minister Mutsvangwa said Zimbabwe and Mozambique were moving in a new trajectory economically.
Disco has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government to undertake refurbishment and construction of a 1 000km long railway line to provide a dedicated, reliable, uninterrupted and efficient railway line to carry the company’s products for local and export-imports routes through Mozambique.
“All of a sudden we are now heading towards where Saudi Arabia and Russia are in energy and fossil fuels. Zimbabwe is moving to that in new energy vehicles. The biggest Chinese company doing steel in the world is in Zimbabwe now and in December we will start producing steel,” he said
The investment represents a huge stepping stone in Zimbabwe’s modernisation and industrialisation agenda in line with the National Development Strategy and Vision 2030.
The world-class iron and steel plant would tap into a resource base that is estimated to last for 100 years and comprises a carbon and steel plant, an iron ore mine, and a ferrochrome plant, which will result in over 10 000 people benefiting through employment across value chains. As Zimbabwe is positioning itself to be one of the biggest global iron and steel producers, the World Steel Association has projected that demand forecast for 2023 and 2024 is expected to rebound significantly with the manufacturing sector set to lead the recovery.
Zimbabwe’s mining industry is expected to make a significant contribution to the country’s attainment of Vision 2030’s goal of becoming an upper middle-income economy.
Lithium and battery minerals such as tantalum, graphite, nickel, manganese and tin will contribute hugely to the mining sector’s expansion.
Cde Mutsvangwa said because of lithium, six billionaires are in Zimbabwe today exploiting lithium.
“Zimbabwe and Mozambique are on a new trajectory. Let’s seek hope in the future. Zimbabwe and Mozambique are coming back in a big way and we will fulfil Samora Machel’s dreams.”
Minister Mutsvangwa said the two countries are fast becoming economic powerhouses in Southern Africa in line with the dreams of the late President Machel.
President Machel was a Mozambican military commander and political leader, a socialist in the tradition of Marxism–Leninism and served as the first President of Mozambique from the country’s independence in 1975 until his tragic death in a plane crash in 1986.
Online Reporter