Story by Tafara Chikumira
THE Dinson Iron and Steel plant in Manhize is now in motion producing pig iron, with production of steel billets anticipated to start next month.
With Zimbabwe hosting the Southern African Development Community (SADC) industrialisation week from the 28th of this month to the 2nd of next month, Dinson Iron and Steel Company is one of the Second Republic’s flagship projects, which feeds into the objectives of the regional bloc.
The billion-dollar steel-making giant, which is one of the biggest firms in Africa, has changed the shape of rural Manhize into a huge industrial hub.
The company, which now employs 1700 people is conducting test runs for pig iron production, a key ingredient in the production of steel.
“We are very excited that our test runs are going on very well. We are just producing 6 percent of our capacity in the form of pig iron in our test runs. The production will go to 100 percent in the next two weeks as we begin the production of steel billets where we will begin to export such products. There will be an array of steel products that we will be producing once we reach that stage of production,” said Dinson Iron and Steel Company’s Project Manager Mr Wilfred Motsi.
On the SADC industrialisation week, the steel-making giant is anticipating to form synergies and expanding its wings across the regional bloc.
“What is of interest is that we have already clinched some deals with several companies that have shown interest in doing business with us. Remember, industrialisation is anchored on steel products and so is mining and agriculture. There is a bus-making company AVM which has since approached us and requested that we make steel for making their buses. We want to spread our wings to Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and even beyond the regional bloc.
“What we have here is a huge investment which is already shaping the country’s industrialisation drive. We are saying there will be a new city here where we anticipate a lot of downstream activities. The opportunities here are quite huge and we will be using the SADC industrialisation week to market the area as well,” said Mr Motsi.
The Dinson Iron and Steel Company is a subsidiary of the global steel-making giant, Tsingshan Holdings Group.
Once all the phases are complete, the company anticipates to produce a total of five million tonnes of steel per year.
