Regional cement maker Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) has reported a five percent drop in volumes at its Zimbabwe unit for the six months to September 30, citing low construction business.
Local pricing was 10 percent down compared to the corresponding period in the prior year as the company sought to ward off competition from cheap imports.
The company commissioned a 700 000 tonne cement plant in Harare last Friday.
“The Zimbabwe milling plant in Harare (Msasa) was commissioned on time (August 2016) and under budget and has sold its first 1 000 pallets (2 000 tonnes) of bagged cement,” said the company in a statement.
Going forward, the company said it will focus on optimising the Harare plant.
PPC has two other plants in Zimbabwe, in Bulawayo and Colleen Bawn near Gwanda with production capacity of 700 000 tonnes annually.
Aside from Zimbabwe, PPC has operations in South Africa, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana and Rwanda.- The Source
Ed: If PPC is having problems selling its present stock of 700 000 tonnes a year and has just commissioned another plant which will produce 700 000 tonnes, this raises questions about whether Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote will build another 1 500 tonne factory in Zimbabwe as he indicated. Zimbabwe could become an export hub of cement but not with the US dollar as its main currency.
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