Displaying items by tag: SinoZimbabwe Cement

Zimbabwe: China-based Sino-Zimbabwe Cement Company and LiveTouch Invest, owner of Diamond Cement Zimbabwe, have acquired a six hectare site in the coal mining area of Hwange, Matabeleland North Province, and announced a planned investment of US$30m in the construction of a grinding plant which will grind clinker with waste materials from coal extraction to produce cement.

LiveTouch Invest had previously mooted the idea of a Zimbabwean clinker plant joint venture with South Africa-based PPC in July 2019.

Zimbabwe: Wang Yong, the managing director of the Sino-Zimbabwe Cement Company, has reported that the joint-venture is on track to complete a US$5m upgrade to the Gweru cement plant in the Midlands province. Once the work is completed the plant's clinker production capacity is expected to double to at least 0.2Mt/yr.

"We are now halfway through the upgrade... We have installed a modern bag filter system to cut emissions. No more thick dust or smoke from the chimney now," said Wang to the Chinese news agency Xinhua. He added that around US$1m was spent on improving pollution control and the rest is being used to refurbish cement mills, rotary kilns, build a cement warehouse and install new packaging lines. The Sino-Zimbabwe Cement Company wants to attract larger investment from China to fund further facility upgrade and expansion. Cement producers in Zimbabwe are set to benefit from increased infrastructure developments if the government's five-year economic plan is fully implemented.

The plant is a joint venture between the Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe and China Building Material Industrial Corporation for Foreign Econo-Technical Cooperation with an initial investment of US$54m. The plant employs more than 400 workers, with 95% from Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe: The Sino-Zimbabwe Cement Company has commenced its first phase of upgrading and refurbishing its Gweru factory. Work on the cement mill and rotary kiln is set to increase the clinker production capacity up to 0.2Mt/yr by the end of 2013. A second phase, also due for completion in 2013, will upgrade warehousing and storage facilities. Further upgrade work is planned for 2014.

"We are upgrading the capacity and efficiency of our cement mill so as to meet growing local and regional demand. The cement mill will be modernised with third generation technology that will immensely improve our efficiency and quality of product. This technology is also the first of its kind in Zimbabwe," said the company in a statement.

The Sino-Zimbabwe Cement Company is the product of a joint business venture between a Chinese foreign direct investment partner, China Building Material Industrial Corporation for Foreign Econo-Technical Co-operation (CBMC), and the Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe Limited. CBMC contributed 65% of the original funding in the form of modern technology and expertise while IDC provided land, civil works, manpower and local knowledge. The cement plant has been in operation since 2001.