PPC upbeat on Zimbabwe subsidiary
Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) said its Zimbabwean subsidiary had surpassed market expectations despite operating under price controls which were imposed by government in July last year.
"To offset losses, the company focused on exports to sustain operations. During the year under review, 140,000t of cement were exported from the Bulawayo factory to meet the unprecedented demand for cement in South Africa," said PPC.
"Whilst there has been some relaxation to the harsh pricing measures initially introduced, ongoing shortages of production inputs and a Zimbabwean selling price which is insufficient to cover production costs require us to focus increasingly on exports to sustain operations," PPC said.
PPC runs a cement factory near Bulawayo and has another plant at Colleen Bawn near Gwanda where clinker is produced.
"The ability to earn foreign currency from operations has allowed the company to continue with capital projects that will address production bottlenecks in the future. "We remain committed to our Zimbabwean operation," he said. Published under Cement News
