PPC has recorded a three per cent advance in sales volumes in the five months to August 2023, compared to the same period in 2022, reports The Herald Zimbabwe. According to the company, the increase is being attributed to strong growth in its Zimbabwe market, which saw cement sales volumes expand by 42 per cent over the same timeframe. In January this year, the Zimbabwean government banned imports of cement, which has helped prop up domestic cement sales.
“Group cement sales volumes (including Zimbabwe and Rwanda) for the five months ended August 2023 were three per cent higher than the same period last year due to exceptionally strong growth in Zimbabwe and, to a lesser extent, Rwanda, while cement volumes continued to decline in South Africa,” said PPC. PPC Zimbabwe saw its average selling price in US dollars expand by 12 per cent over the same five-month period.
The cement producer said that ongoing residential construction projects and the government-funded infrastructure programmes were continuing to spur demand for cement. Earlier this year Finance and Investment Promotion Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, indicated that the Zimbabwean government would continue to prioritise the upgrading and rehabilitation of the country’s road network, along with the construction of dams, including the 635Mm3 Gwayi-Shangani project in Matabeleland, North Province.
