Tourism sector growth

Zimbabwe's tourism sector has this year grown at an average annual rate of 7%, the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Walter Muzembi has said. Herald.

Chinese firm to spend US$35m on Zimasco

New Zimbabwe reports that China's Sinosteel is set to invest US$35 million in Zimasco in a development expected to see the Midlands-based Ferro-chrome producer boost annual production capacity by more than 75 percent.

Speaking on the sidelines of a Ferro-alloys conference in South Africa, Zimasco managing director, Sydwell Jena said the funds will be used to bring the firm’s sixth furnace back on stream.

The furnace was decommissioned after being severely damaged by fire in 2006. “It will cost $35 million and the (majority) shareholder, Sinosteel, has already agreed to release the financing,” Jena said.

Sinosteel holds a 78 percent stake in Zimasco.

Meanwhile, the furnace is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2012 and increase Zimasco’s capacity to around 235 000 tonnes peryear (tpy) of Ferro-chrome, up from 180,000 tpy, he said.

Zimasco – which exports both processed and unprocessed chrome, the bulk going to the USA, Italy and China – is now running all its operational furnaces at full capacity.

In August, capacity utilisation was scaled back to 80 percent on difficulties stemming from the European sovereign debt crisis.

“The sovereign debt crisis in Europe affected us badly: our largest market is Italy.

“(But) we have re-opened (our) export market (with) the USA and demand there is relatively stable; our smelters are (now) running at fully capacity,” Jena said.

ZimAlloys in the hunt for US$58m

New Zimbabwe also reports that management at Zimbabwe Alloys Chrome (ZimAlloys) say they remain upbeat about the prospects of raising the US$58 million needed to bring back into operation key furnaces at the company’s Gweru base.

Chief Executive Johan Oosthuizen said they were looking at restarting the three mothballed in the next six months at initial output of around 120,000 tonnes per year.

“Raising the capital is not a problem; we have various options to raise the money and we will be doing that in the coming few months,” Johan Oosthuizen was reported as saying at a mining conference in South Africa.

ZimAlloys ceased operations at its Great Dyke II mine and Inyala underground as well as other open-put mines in 2008 due to a lack of capital.

But it will appoint a contractor to resume production in the next two weeks.

“We are also in the process of awarding a mining contract to a Zimbabwean contractor and we expect the mining end of business to resume very soon,” Oosthuizen said.