US$1.5bn steel project now 70% complete
.....Set to be complete in November....... To cut imports by 90%
BUSINESS REPORTER
Construction works on the US$1.5bn steel plant in Manhize, near Mvuma is now at 70% complete, which is on schedule to be completed by November of this year, Business Times can report.
When finished, the steel project, which is being carried out by Dinson Iron and Steel Company (DISCO), a division of a Chinese company Tsingshan Holdings Group Limited, is expected to be the largest integrated steel plant in Africa. Production of steel is anticipated to commence in November of this year.
When it begins production, DISCO intends to produce 600 000 tonnes of carbon steel. This amount will rise as the first phase of production ramps up to 1.2m tonnes of steel annually, and it will rise to 5m tonnes when it is operating at full capacity.
According to estimates, the Manhize steel project is expected to cut Zimbabwe’s imports of steel by 90% through local steel production.
While 1 700 jobs have been created as a result of the ongoing construction, DISCO anticipates that 10,000 new jobs will be created once Manhize operations begin.
According to DISCO, it has already received orders for more than 250 000 tonnes of steel from the domestic market.
When the project is finished, Zimbabwe’s need to import steel will be greatly reduced.
The domestic demand for steel stands at 1.5m tonnes.
“The reality of import substitution is coming to Zimbabwe as we have received local orders of 250 000 tonnes, ahead of commencement of production in November. Some products we will produce include pig iron, steel billets and carbon steel,” Dinson said.
The collapse of ZISCO, formerly the largest steel manufacturing plant north of Limpopo, in 2008 severely battered Zimbabwe’s iron and steel engineering sector, which DISCO will help to revive.
Since ZISCO’s closure, Zimbabwe has been importing steel products from the SADC, primarily South Africa, for over US$400m a year.
ZISCO produced over a million tonnes of steel at its peak in the 1990s, employing over 5,000 people directly and thousands more in downstream industries.
The national requirement for local market is 1.5m tonnes of steel per annum.
