Zimbabwean cement producer Livetouch International, part of Diamond Cement, plans to increase its cement capacity utilisation rate from the current 45 per cent.
The Redcliff-based company has a 0.5Mta plant but has been operating at low capacity rates due to a shortage of raw materials, according to The Herald.
The company’s CEO, Don Wang, said the company had been relying on competitors such as PPC for the supply of limestone. “We have, however, put measures to make sure that we capacitate and improve production,” he added.
He appealed to the Zimbabwean government to consider assisting the company with access to further limestone deposits so that the company may improve its operational capacity. “The best that Government can do is to allocate more limestone claims so that we can get more raw-materials for increased production at our company. Currently our company is seated on a 10ha land but we are underutilising the land due to lack of raw material,” he said.
In addition, he highlighted the issue of power load shedding in the efficient operation of the plant. “We have had to switch off all our heavy machinery that consume more power. That has in a way affected our production but I hope government is working on that one since it is a national problem,” he said.
