Production at Zimbabwe’s Manhize steel plant could more than triple to 2 million tonnes a year, as Chinese investor Tsingshan Holding Group weighs a major expansion of the US$1 billion project.
The proposed expansion would lift annual output from the current 600 000 tonnes, significantly boosting Zimbabwe’s steel production capacity and strengthening the country’s position as a regional supplier.
Tsingshan Holding Group’s Chief Executive Officer for Zimbabwean operations, Benson Xu said the company was considering increasing production while diversifying the range of steel products manufactured at the plant, located about 205km south-east of Harare.
“We first want to diversify the steel products. Then we will also increase the volume in the near future,” Xu said.
He said the expansion would require improvements to Zimbabwe’s rail infrastructure to facilitate the movement of increased volumes of raw materials and finished steel products.
About 40 percent of Manhize’s current output is sold locally, while the remainder is exported, mainly to South Africa, with smaller volumes going to Malawi and Zambia.
The potential expansion comes as South Africa’s steel industry faces mounting pressure from imports, weak economic conditions, unreliable rail services and rising electricity costs.
Tsingshan would also need to establish a metallurgical coal-processing plant to support increased production, while the company already mines iron ore in Zimbabwe for the Manhize operation.
Xu described the proposed expansion as “quite massive” but declined to disclose its projected cost.
Tsingshan is also in discussions with Mutapa Investment Fund to establish a joint venture focused on rail infrastructure.
The planned expansion is in line with Government’s drive to revive Zimbabwe’s steel industry, boost value addition and beneficiation, and expand exports as part of its broader industrialisation and economic growth agenda.
