adminNgoni Dapira Business Correspondent
A LOCAL consortium, Willowton Group, which recently acquired the liquidated Karina Textiles in Mutare has targeted setting up a state-of-the-art oil refinery and soap manufacturing plant by year end. The Manica Post Business on Tuesday learnt that plans to get the project on track at the Karina Textiles premises were already at an advanced stage.
An oil refinery is an industrial process where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful products such as petroleum naphtha, gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas.
The line of business is considered an essential part of the downstream side of the petroleum industry. Impeccable sources within the Willowton Group that requested anonymity revealed that plans were already underway to set off the project.
“I can not disclose much for now but I can only confirm that Willowton Group, a local consortium, purchased Karina Textiles property late last year and part of our plans here (Karina Textiles premises) is to venture into refining crude oil and manufacturing soap, both laundry and beauty (bathing) soap.
“Until we bring in the machinery and settle other pending and critical issues concerning the project, I cannot divulge much on it for now,” said one of the sources. Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries Manicaland chairman Mr Richard Chiwandire said the Nyakamete Industrial Area needed such futuristic and new-line manufacturing industry, to breathe life in the city’s industrial hub.
He cited positives of how new-line industry like the frozen and dried foods distribution company, Mega Market had filled the void by leasing the property of the Cotton Company of Zimbabwe Manicaland plant after it closed its operations in Mutare.
“I am happy that we are seeing new-line industries coming up to fill the void. “As CZI Manicaland chapter, we are optimistic that more of such futuristic industry will be seen in the province once the Special Economic Zones Bill is enacted with incentives to draw investors.
“Nyakamete (Industrial Area) may be in a poor state now but all hope should not be lost and as CZI, we implore Government to help facilitate the realisation of such big investment deals by local businesspeople that help create employment,” said Mr Chiwandire.
He added that internal competition was healthy in the country’s manufacturing sector at the moment when deflation was on the increase, rather than monopoly of just having one company like Unilever dominating soap manufacturing in the country.
Karina Textiles, which was the country’s sole manufacturer of knitting yarn, applied for liquidation in 2013 after being placed under provisional liquidation in 2012 when business viability had proven unproductive.
In its prime years, Karina Textiles used to employ over 600 workers.
The once highly productive Nyakamete Industrial Area is now virtually dead, with most large-scale manufacturing industries having shut down, while most of the few remaining are operating below 10 percent capacity utilisation, and subletting their premises to small-scale business operators.
First to go down in 2011 was the paper-making manufacturing giant Mutare Board and Paper Mills (MBPMs), followed by Karina Textiles. The premises of MBPMs are now being leased to schools, vehicle repair companies, small-scale corn snacks producers and non-governmental organisations for storage of food.
Exceptional cases are Manica Boards and Doors and Cairns Foods that have been improving progressively on capacity utilisation since dollarisation in 2009. Cairns Holdings was placed under provisional judicial management in 2012 and final judicial management in February 2013 due to insolvency, owing debts that amounted to $25 million.
Since slowly resuming operations in 2014, Cairns Holdings has increased its capacity utilisation from as low as 5 percent in 2012 to 35 percent in 2015. In November last year, the firm was removed from judicial management by the High Court to pave way for its takeover by the new investor, a local investment holding firm, Takura Capital.
Other notable operational manufacturing industries in the city’s industrious hub are Quest Motors, Kenrose Filters and Wattle Company, although they are still operating below capacity.
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