PPC Zimbabwe to increase production
PPC Zimbabwe, the country’s largest cement producer, says it plans to raise output at its Cement Siding plant, 15km east of Bulawayo, following the completion of the US$20m refurbishment of its Colleen Bawn clinker production line in July.
Refurbishment of the Colleen Bawn plant kicked off in February and involved massive realignments at PPC’s furnace in preparation of the anticipated growth.
The shutdown however, triggered massive shortages in Zimbabwe. Demand for cement declined from 1.1Mt in 1999 to 242,000t in 2008 before bouncing back to 400,000t last year after the power-sharing administration that came into office in February introduced wide-ranging economic stabilisation reforms.
Installed capacity of three cement production firms in Zimbabwe - Lafarge Cement, PPC and Sino Zimbabwe, is 1.5Mta. Lafarge produces about 500,000t, while Sino manufactures about 200,000t. PPC said last week it had brought online a Germany-assembled IKN Grate Cooler, to increase clinker output by 28 per cent to 2500t.
Published under Cement News
