Zimbabwe to speed up reopening of ZiscoSteel

Anita Anyango — Mon, 02 May 2022 06:52:59 +0000

The government of Zimbabwe has announced plans to speed up reopening of former industrial flagship Ziscosteel in time for the 2023 elections.

Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company is located just outside Kwekwe, in Redcliff, Kwekwe District. Over the years the company has faced many operational problems and corruption scandals. At its peak, the plant produced nearly 1 million tons of steel a year.

Challenges

The Company stopped operations in January 2008, following three successive power outages from the national grid coupled with cooling water challenges leading to the cooling down of Coke Oven batteries and subsequently the cooling down of the Blast Furnace.

Kuvimba Mining House Ltd., has been selected to revive one of the continent’s largest steel mills. The miner has been picked as the “investment partner”. It was wholly owned by the government of Zimbabwe, until in November 2010, it invited bidders for a 64% stake of the ZISCO group of companies mainly to reduce or liquidate two large debts totalling $340 million, including $240 million to a German bank. 54% of the company is now in the hands of Essar Africa Holdings Ltd (India-based). The government of Zimbabwe still holds 36% and a consortium of private investors holds 10%. Up to 3,000 jobs were saved.

The ZISCO group of companies include BIMCO, Lancashire Steel, Frontier Steel, ZISCO Distribution Centre. All these companies are 100% owned by ZISCO. It gets raw materials (such as iron ore) from Ripple Creek mine which is about 14 kilometers from ZISCO. Up to 70 million tonnes can be mined. Up to 200 million tonnes of limestone can be found on an open cast mine which is a few meters from ZISCO. Zimbabwe also has reserves of up to 22 billion tonnes of coal.

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Kuvimba selected to revive steel firm in Zimbabwe

Anita Anyango — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 08:20:34 +0000

Zimbabwe’s state-owned miner, Kuvimba Mining House Ltd., has been selected to revive one of the continent’s largest steel mills.

The miner has been picked as the “investment partner” to breathe new life into the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company, which has been shut for 14 years. The government invited bids in April 2021 from investors in a bid to bring back Ziscosteel, which is located in the Midlands province, an area with vast deposits of chrome and platinum. Previous attempts to re-start the mill, including interest by India’s Essar Steel Ltd, stalled as prospective investors haggled over a $300 million debt burden and obsolete machinery at the plant.

Due diligence

Kuvimba Mining has said it bought its assets from a company linked to Kudakwashe Tagwirei, a Zimbabwean tycoon who was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2020 because of allegations he bribed government officials and used political influence to win lucrative state deals.

“The Zimbabwe Investment Development Authority, a state-owned investment vehicle, recommended the choice of Kuvimba after carrying out due diligence. The company needs $350 million to $400 million to revive the project. It all depends on the new investor on what they want to do,” said Farai Koronga, the chief executive officer for Ziscosteel.

The post Kuvimba selected to revive steel firm in Zimbabwe appeared first on Mining Business Africa.

Kuvimba Mining House Ltd Archives - Mining Business Africa

Zimbabwe to speed up reopening of ZiscoSteel

Challenges

Kuvimba selected to revive steel firm in Zimbabwe

Due diligence