Z1 April 13-20 2017 PPC HARARE PLANT COMMISSIONING PPC Zimbabwe has a heritage of over 100 years in Zimbabwe, and a track record of providing consistent quality cement and solutions that ca- ter to the needs of every construction project and individual home building, from start to fin- ish. PPC Zimbabwe aims to develop African infra- structure and people, and champions this para- digm through a culture of continuous innovation through its product and service offering. It’s not just about providing cement but more about so- lutions. Through a belief in “Strength Beyond the Bag” the customer’s experience in using PPC Zim- babwe products and services always comes first. In March 2017, PPC officially marked a new chapter in Zimbabwe, adding to its operations in Bulawayo and at Colleen Bawn with the com- missioning of the PPC Harare factory by His Ex- cellency, President Robert Mugabe. PPC believes that growth opportunities abound on African soil, and upholds a commitment to continue to invest in Zimbabwe, her people and her economy. The new PPC Harare Factory is an US$82 mil- lion, world-class facility that is designed to incorpo- rate the latest technology in the cement industry and in adherence to global emissions standards. The PPC Harare factory and the Bulawayo fac- tory are the only local cement factories incorpo- rating a cement palletiser and a shrink wrapping machine, with bulk handling and transportation services available for customers. Sinoma Inter- national Engineering drove the construction of the facility, with local contractors such as JR God- dard Construction, Ascon-Tencraft and HVC. The new PPC Harare Factory will continue to provide downstream opportunities for local businesses. The construction of the plant echoes PPC’s belief in continuously making a positive impact to Zim- babwe’s economy by stimulating employment, and by enriching the Zimbabwean workforce through local manufacturing operations. In tandem with the official commissioning of the Harare plant, PPC Zimbabwe launched Sure- cast 42.5R, a rapid-setting cement product that caters to the needs of concrete and brick mak- ers, as well as the first and only 42.5R product manufactured locally in Zimbabwe. The launch of Surecast 42.5R is consistent with PPC Zimba- bwe’s unshakeable efforts to continuously inno- vate, creating value by saving its customers’ time and resources. Surecast 42.5R cement translates to a greater amount of work on-site achieved in less time, shortening the amount of time projects take and ultimately saving money- a welcome in- novation from all angles pertaining to construc- tion projects. Pre-casters are impressed by the in- crease in early strength, the increased flexibility in mix designs, and the way the product allows them to strip moulds earlier. Brick manufacturers notice an increase in yield of bricks, which ultimately results in a lowered cost per brick. There is also an increase in early strength, and improved handling for bricks. The product also allows freedom to design both high perfor- mance concrete and standard cement. Medium and large contractors see the benefit of working with Surecast 42.5R through faster completion of products, better strength development, as well as fast stripping of formwork. PPC remains the cement brand of choice, due to the unparalleled quality of its products, as well as its customer-centric approach. Its products and services add value to every aspect of the cus- tomer experience. PPC Zimbabwe prides itself on attention to detail in all aspects of product quality and service, and continuously evolves to remain aligned with international best practices. PPC Zim opens US$82m Harare factory President Robert Mugabe addressing guests at the commission- ing of the PPC plant in Harare. PPC group chairman Peter Nelson
Transcript
Z1April 13-20 2017
PPC HARARE PLANT COMMISSIONING
PPC Zimbabwe has a heritage of over 100 years in Zimbabwe, and a track record of providing consistent quality cement and solutions that ca-ter to the needs of every construction project and individual home building, from start to fin-ish. PPC Zimbabwe aims to develop African infra-structure and people, and champions this para-digm through a culture of continuous innovation through its product and service offering. It’s not just about providing cement but more about so-lutions. Through a belief in “Strength Beyond the Bag” the customer’s experience in using PPC Zim-babwe products and services always comes first.
In March 2017, PPC officially marked a new chapter in Zimbabwe, adding to its operations in Bulawayo and at Colleen Bawn with the com-missioning of the PPC Harare factory by His Ex-cellency, President Robert Mugabe. PPC believes that growth opportunities abound on African soil, and upholds a commitment to continue to invest in Zimbabwe, her people and her economy.
The new PPC Harare Factory is an US$82 mil-lion, world-class facility that is designed to incorpo-rate the latest technology in the cement industry and in adherence to global emissions standards. The PPC Harare factory and the Bulawayo fac-tory are the only local cement factories incorpo-rating a cement palletiser and a shrink wrapping machine, with bulk handling and transportation services available for customers. Sinoma Inter-national Engineering drove the construction of the facility, with local contractors such as JR God-dard Construction, Ascon-Tencraft and HVC. The new PPC Harare Factory will continue to provide downstream opportunities for local businesses. The construction of the plant echoes PPC’s belief in continuously making a positive impact to Zim-babwe’s economy by stimulating employment, and by enriching the Zimbabwean workforce through local manufacturing operations.
In tandem with the official commissioning of the Harare plant, PPC Zimbabwe launched Sure-cast 42.5R, a rapid-setting cement product that caters to the needs of concrete and brick mak-ers, as well as the first and only 42.5R product manufactured locally in Zimbabwe. The launch of Surecast 42.5R is consistent with PPC Zimba-bwe’s unshakeable efforts to continuously inno-vate, creating value by saving its customers’ time and resources. Surecast 42.5R cement translates to a greater amount of work on-site achieved in less time, shortening the amount of time projects take and ultimately saving money- a welcome in-novation from all angles pertaining to construc-tion projects. Pre-casters are impressed by the in-crease in early strength, the increased flexibility in mix designs, and the way the product allows them to strip moulds earlier.
Brick manufacturers notice an increase in yield of bricks, which ultimately results in a lowered cost per brick.
There is also an increase in early strength, and improved handling for bricks. The product also allows freedom to design both high perfor-mance concrete and standard cement. Medium and large contractors see the benefit of working with Surecast 42.5R through faster completion of products, better strength development, as well as fast stripping of formwork.
PPC remains the cement brand of choice, due to the unparalleled quality of its products, as well as its customer-centric approach. Its products and services add value to every aspect of the cus-tomer experience. PPC Zimbabwe prides itself on attention to detail in all aspects of product quality and service, and continuously evolves to remain aligned with international best practices.
PPC Zim opens
US$82m Harare factory President Robert Mugabe addressing guests at the commission-
ing of the PPC plant in Harare. PPC group chairman Peter Nelson
Z2 April 13-20 2017ppc harare plant commissioning supplement
Nyasha Chingono
THE commissioning of Pretoria Port-land Cement PPC’s Harare plant could reignite stiff competition among the top three cement producers in the country.
PPC is the biggest player followed by Lafarge and another smaller player Mid-lands based, Sino Zimbabwe Cement.
The trio, has over the years, engaged in market-driven initiatives.
President Robert Mugabe last month commissioned the US$82 million state of the art cement milling plant aimed at servicing the northern region, Mozam-bique among other markets.
PPC’s daring stance of replicating its Bulawayo and Coleen Bawn model in Harare which is dominated by oth-er players could be spelling interesting times for the cement industry that has relatively been quiet since 2015.
Located in the Sunway City Industrial Park, a special economic zone, the new plant is earmarked at generating the much needed foreign currency through exports, with analysts saying PPC was gearing up for bigger competition.
Since Nigerian business magnet Aliko Dangote visited in 2015, the cement manufacturing industry has been on its toes introducing a wide range of cement products, while players like Sino Zimba-bwe have invested widely into expan-sion of capacity.
Companies have been jostling to of-fer competitive prices on the market with a bag of cement going as low as US$9 for normal superset cement, while companies like Lafarge have opened up delivery centres near construction are-
as.Analysts say companies are prepar-
ing for Dangote’s US$300 million ce-ment plant and while the project is in limbo, local companies would be gain-ing ground in order to cushion them-selves from an uncertain future.
With a number of construction projects on the cards like the Gwayi-Shangani Dam, Beitbridge-Chirundu highway among others, local cement manufacturers’ will be jostling to supply the contractors.
The recent Cyclone Dineo also pre-sented an opportunity for the cement producers to make business through the reconstruction of dams, bridges and general infrastructure damaged during the rains.
Lafarge has 450 000 tonnes capacity, while Sino Zim Cement produces 250 000 tonnes per annum.
PPC’s combined capacity alone of 1,8 million tonnes per annum when operat-ing at full capacity would fully satisfy the local market , hence an opportunity for the export market.
“This plant allows us to reach out to Mozambique from here than delivering from Bulawayo,” said PPC, Zimbabwe, managing director, Kelibone Masiyane.
Masiyane said the company decided to invade the northern region follow-ing its conquest of the southern region where PPC Bulawayo has thrived over 100 years.
“At the moment part of our launching strategy is to grow up here in the North because we have been more dominant in the South,” added Masiyane who ad-mitted that Harare required aggression
towards the market.In an apparent admission of com-
petition, Masiyane said dominating the northern part of Zimbabwe would re-quire hard work and cost efficiencies which the company is enjoying through the new plant.
“It’s quite challenging and we are not as competitive,” said Masiyane.
Masiyane said costs of production were prohibitively higher than its coun-terparts in the southern African region, chief among them, power tariffs.
“We need to understand why Zimba-bwe’s electricity is more expensive than the rest of the region,” he added.
Electricity tariffs hover around US$0,14 Kw/h compared to US$0,06 in Zambia.
Electricity costs make up 25 percent of total costs of production.
We have a similar plant in Bulawayo, but the numbers are quite less so as a company we are on a cost competitive drive and I believe this would help us to be competitive on the export market.
The local cement industry has invest-ed over US$185 million in the past five years and is capacitated to meet 1,17 million tonnes demand in the years up to 2030, according to industry players.
With the support of the PPC Group that has set its eyes on DRC, PPC Zim-babwe is buoyed by growth in the con-struction business that presents oppor-tunities for lucrative business.
PPC, Group chairman, Peter Nelson, said that the company was already repli-cating Zimbabwe’s success story in oth-er countries.
To Z4
PPC’s Harare plant reawakens fight for market share
PPC’s Harare plant reawakens fight for market share
From Z2“It is this exclusive approach to do-
ing business through partnerships and localisation that has made PPC Zimba-bwe the success it is today. And it is an approach that we have replicated as we have taken PPC to other countries Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia,” said Nelson.
According to PPC, the new plant is designed and constructed in adher-ence to global emission standards.
The Harare factory incorporates
bulk handling and palletising technol-ogy which can pack 40 cement bags per minute.
It started supplying the market with quality cement last year.
This is in line with their vision to cre-ate positive outcomes for the environ-ment, showing deep concern for the long term effects of their operations.
PPC continues to uphold its phi-losophy of “Strength beyond the Bag” embodying a commitment that goes beyond producing a bad of cement.
