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SINO-ZIMBABWE Cement Company is confident of meeting its targeted production capacity of between 700 to 1,200 tonnes per day following the completion of the first phase of the company’s plant upgrade, a company official said.
The plant renovations were being carried out in three phases and the first phase has already been completed.In an interview with our Harare Bureau yesterday, IDC public relations advisor Dereck Sibanda confirmed the development.
Sino-Zimbabwe cement is a joint venture company between the Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe and China Building Materials Corporation which started operating in 2001 in Gweru.
The joint venture has completed a massive facility upgrade, with $4 million invested in the project by the Chinese co-shareholder to boost output and reduce pollution.
“The upgrade of the plant will boost clinker production at the Gweru plant to about 1,200 tonnes per day.
“The amount invested went towards refurbishments of the cement mill, the rotary kiln as well as renewing and automating ancillary equipment,” said Sibanda.
In the manufacture of portland cement, clinker are lumps or nodules produced by sintering (bonding) limestone and alumino-silicate (clay) during the cement kiln stage.
He said more upgrade work is scheduled for this year.
Sibanda said the latest technology would help the cement company reduce emissions that pollute the environment. Sino-Zimbabwe Cement Company was last year fined by the Environmental Management Agency for air pollution.
The completion of the upgrade of the rotary kiln will see the company improving its energy consumption and reducing its carbon footprint.
In addition, the modern high temperature bag filter system will see the company significantly reduce its dust emissions.
This is a major consideration to the company as it seeks to demonstrate its commitment to protect the environment.
In an interview last year Sino-Zimbabwe Cement general manager Dereck Moyo said that the company would retrench 59 workers since some of the plant’s manual interventions would be eliminated in areas that had been automated.
Moyo said the refurbishment and upgrading of the Sino-Zimbabwe Cement Company plant would result in the plant becoming high-tech.
He said the plant’s demand for manual manpower had been significantly reduced while the requirement of highly technical staff had increased.
The company was supposed to engage an additional 54 artisan level technical staff to cater for the increased requirement for technical skills.
Moyo said they were going to employ other staff on fixed term contract basis to cater for other requirements.
Online Reporter