DELTA Corporation Limited will commission its Masvingo plant this month and has also moved the commissioning of the Kwekwe plant to a later date due to delays in the delivery of equipment by suppliers.
BY VICTORIA MTOMBA
The two plants were undergoing a $14,5 million apiece upgrade.
In an interview, the group’s corporate secretary Alex Makamure said there had been delays from the suppliers of the equipment, but that has been sorted out.
“We will commission the Masvingo plant on October 25 and Kwekwe will be a bit later. There were delays by the suppliers of the equipment and fears of the bond notes as they were trying to establish what was happening but they are okay now,” he said.
The upgrade will see Delta producing four million hectolitres annually of beer.
The group invested $78 million in plants upgrade for Chibuku Super and this result in Chibuku Super contributing 60% of the opaque beer. Since Chibuku Super was introduced in 2014, volumes for Super have increased by over two million hectolitres.
In the quarter ending June 2016, Delta said volumes for larger beer, sorghum beer and sparkling beverages declined by 1% from the previous year while revenues were down 11% from the previous year.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Delta said the weakening macro-economic fundamentals exacerbated by declining per capita incomes, cash shortages and withdrawal limits, delays in salary payments and significant policy shifts made the business environment onerous.
The group said the environment was depressed as demand for beer remained low due to low disposable incomes. The brewer has been reducing prices of its products to stimulate demand.
The company’s associate, Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited’s volumes were up by 8%, while revenues were down by 5% due to higher contribution of water versus juice drinks.
