Cement manufacturer PPC Zimbabwe is positive its acquisition of an indigenisation certificate in 2012 will enable it to forge ahead of competition as the building industry improves.
Business Development and Corporate Strategy director Gavin Stephens said the company, asubsidiary of PPC South Africa, is in the process of implementing the indigenisation law. “We are in the process of implementing this ahead of the competition. It will give the community and employees shares in the company,” he said.
“While we have enjoyed a growth in market share we still have an extensive capacity,” he said. Since the country adopted multiple foreign currencies, the cement industry has enjoyed a solid recovery and good growth.
During the hyper-inflation period, cement sales dropped to 400 000 tons a year compared to an industry high of 1,1 million in 1999.
However fortunes have recovered for the industry and PPC is on a drive to grow the company in the region.
The company boasts of operating in emerging markets, where 70 percent of the world’s cement is produced, a factor that has allowed it to grow. Last year the parent company’s annual report commended the Zimbabwean operation for recording a fifth consecutive financial year of growth.
“Cement volumes were under pressure in South Africa and Botswana, while sales volumes in Zimbabwe continued to improve,” executive chairman Bheki Sibiya said.
“Sales volumes in South Africa were affected by poor economic growth, increased strike activity and above-average rainfall, whilst Zimbabwe enjoyed a fifth consecutive year of rising cement demand, albeit on a slower growth trajectory than prior years,” he said.
PPC has nine manufacturing facilities and three milling depots in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe that can produce around eight million tons of cement products each year.
Investment at the company’s Bulawayo plant, which grew capacity from 650 000 tons to 1,1 million tons made the ability to maximise volume possible.
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