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Business Reporter
Chinese firm, Dinson Iron and Steel Company is expected to begin test runs for its mega steel plant in Manhize, near Mvuma, next month following the completion of the construction works.
This comes as local industry players are already bracing for the local supply of raw materials in a development expected to bring huge economic benefits for the country, including a drop in steel imports, which would help preserve scarce foreign currency.
Dinson project director Mr Wilfred Motsi said the date for the plant’s test run was yet to be established, but was tentatively planned for this month.
“Production is planned to commence in June as construction of the plant has been completed and the electricity transmission line from Sherwood in Kwekwe to Manhize has been completed.
“All things being equal, we expect a test run to be conducted anytime this month before the first production begins in June,” he said.
Dinson is scheduled to produce 600 000 tonnes of steel in the first phase, which would rise to 1,2 million tonnes in the second phase.
In the early stages of production, Dinson plans to produce pig iron, followed by steel billets and steel bars before the end of the year.
As Dinson prepares to start production, the Zimbabwe Institute of Foundries (ZIF) said its members could not wait for the historic moment, which would drive growth in the sector.
Dinson, one of the three local subsidiaries of China’s Tsingshan Holdings Limited, has completed the construction of the giant steel plant for US$1,5 billion steel.
Locally, the group’s other subsidiaries are Afrochine Smelting in Selous, Mashonaland West Province and Dinson Colliery in Hwange, Matabeleland North Province.
The investment, which is one of the signature projects of the Second Republic, is set to conduct a test run anytime from now ahead of the first production in June.
ZIF chief operating officer Mr Dosman Mangisi said their members are readying themselves for the opening of the Dinson steel plant whose operations are pivotal to the resuscitation of the local engineering, iron and steel sector.
“The commencement of operations at the steel plant will definitely yield a major impact and change to the local industry, which at the moment is grappling with the shortage of raw materials and the knock-on effect has depressed production by companies in engineering, iron and steel sector including foundries.
“A proclamation has already been made that the Manhize steel plant construction is complete and as players in the foundry sector, we are geared to tap into the opportunities presented by the operationalization of that plant.
“Commencement of production at the Dinson Iron and Steel Company’s plant will see all sectors particularly those in engineering, iron and steel industry improving their production levels as raw materials will be easily accessible and competitively- unlike the current scenario where most of our players are importing,” he said.
Before the closure of once Zimbabwe’s largest integrated steel plant north of Limpopo, Zimbabwe Steel Company (Zisco) in 2008, due to financial challenges, the local industry was accessing raw materials relatively at a cheaper cost unlike presently millions of foreign currency are being spent importing steel and related products.
At its peak in the 1990s, Zisco produced over one million tonnes of steel per annum employing more than 5 000 people directly.
Mr Mangisi said his organisation with over 200 members hoped to see its membership grow rapidly as a result of the commencement of production at Dinson.
“We are also readying ourselves to see a significant increase in the number of our membership to emerge from new investments into the sector attracted by the Dinson project,” he said.
Output at the steel plant is expected to rise to 3,2 million in the third phase and ultimately five million tonnes annually in the final phase supplying a wide range of products to the Zimbabwean industry with direct employment figures at the project reaching 10 000.
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