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Business Reporter
PRETORIA Portland Cement (PPC), Zimbabwe’s largest cement firm has set its sights on starting construction work at its proposed clinker plant in Mount Darwin at the beginning of next year.PPC managing director Lekula Njombo said an exploration report was expected to be issued soon and thereafter construction preparations for the clinker plant would start.
“We’ve got two expansion projects — one is the clinker plant and the other one is the construction of a mill in Harare. We are just finalising limestone exploration though the report was expected to be out at the end of October. It is expected to be released soon and that being the issue we expect to proceed with the construction,” Mr Njombo said.
He said the Harare milling plant was expected to be commissioned in 2016 though the laying of a railway siding from the site to the main railway line was due to be completed before the end of this year.
“In Harare we are going to be opening a milling plant similar to this one in Bulawayo. We expect to start construction sometime in February next year. The setting up of the rail siding has already started and will have put the rail before the end of the year,” Mr Njombo said.
The two projects have an estimated total cost of $200 million.
Mr Njombo said the company was partially satisfied with its export market. It exports its cement to Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique.
“Our export markets are going very well but you have to note that it depends on the demand and the logistics of getting the product there. We always appreciate the contribution of our export markets they are boosting our revenue by five to seven percent,” he said.
He said the company’s capacity utilisation was hovering between 65 to 70 percent.
PPC faces stiff competition from Lafarge and Sino Zimbabwe.
Online Reporter