HARAREe -- South African cement manufacturer Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) says sales from its Zimbabwe operations for the nine months to December 31 last year increased by between 30 and 40 per cent.
PPC is a South African cement producing company with operations in several other countries on the continent, including Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Botswana. In Zimbabwe, PPC operates three plants, including the new 82 million US dollars plant in Harare, which was commissioned in August last year and produces 700,000 tons of cement a year.
The other two plants are in Bulawayo and Colleen Bawn near Gwanda, with combined annual production of 700,000 tons, bringing the company's total annual production capacity in the country to 1.4 million tons.
In a trading update, PPC said here Monday that its Zimbabwe business continued to surpass expectations.
PPC Zimbabwe continues to exceed expectations, with sales volumes growing by 30 to 40 per cent compared with last year, supported by the retail segment, the company said.
Pricing, in US dollars, has marginally exceeded that of the prior year. We continue to closely monitor the liquidity situation in Zimbabwe.
It said that in Rwanda, sales volumes grew by between 20 to 30 per cent as pricing remained relatively stable while in the DRC, an improvement in monthly sales was recorded beginning September last year.
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK
