Zimbabwean official hails Chinese-invested firm for increasing steel production
"We have a new product, which is the export of steel from Zimbabwe. This is also beginning to spur the regeneration of Zimbabwe's downstream steel fabrication sector," said Christopher Mutsvangwa, a politburo member and secretary for information and publicity for the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, while addressing journalists in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe.
DISCO, a subsidiary of China's Tsingshan Holding Group, commenced production last year with pig iron, followed by steel billets, and is now producing steel bars. The company is also expected to start producing bolts, nuts and other steel products.
"The technology continues to expand, and the product diversity continues to increase," said Mutsvangwa.
The local steel production is expected to support the revival of the heavy steel industry in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second-largest city, which was severely affected by the collapse of the domestic steel sector, he added.
The closure of a major steel producer in 2008 significantly impacted Zimbabwe's local steel industry, forcing the country to rely on imports. Following the ramp-up of domestic steel production, the Zimbabwean government last Friday introduced new restrictions on the importation of certain steel products.
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