LOCAL detergent dealer, ZimKings Trading, says it plans to commission a $15 million washing powder plant in the next two months in a move likely to significantly reduce the country’s import bill.
BY TARISAI MANDIZHA
ZimKings Tradings, a subsidiary of Trade Kings Group, said the plant was expected to increase production of detergents to over 3 000 tonnes monthly.
Speaking on the side-lines of the seventh Buy Local Summit and Investment Forum in Victoria Falls, the company’s general manager, Pieter Finke said: “The two brands we will be starting with are Boom and Xtra, which are already household brands in Zimbabwe.
“In terms of investment, we are looking at about $15 million. The plant has a capacity to produce 3 000 tonnes a month of Boom detergents. The first couple of lines, we are going to be running, will be between 450 to 500 tonnes a month.”
“The plant is now 98% complete and we are waiting for commissioning to take place. The commissioning will depend on how well it goes, but will take one-and-a-half to two months depending on how long the ministry will take to commission the plant,” he said.
Finke, obviously, said his company was not spared from the current economic challenges which the country was going through and has devised mechanisms to stay afloat.
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“It’s challenging, but we are able to cope, we are getting support from the Finance ministry and the ministry of Industry and Commerce so that we are able to import our products from Zambia until a time when we can produce locally,” he said.
The company is importing most of its products from sister companies in Zambia and South Africa.
Last year, the manufacturing sector’s capacity utilisation, which is a measure of industry’s use of installed productive potential, rose to 47,4%, up from 34,3% in 2015.
Following the introduction of Statutory Instrument (SI) 64 of 2016, which removed goods that have local equivalents from the open general import licence, local companies have increased capacity utilisation to 50% from 30%.
According to the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries the manufacturing capacity utilisation is expected to surge to 65% in 2017, buoyed by an import ban imposed by the government last year.
