THE State-run Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) is pressing ahead with a plan to decommission its phosphate production facility at Dorowa, in a fresh move that will end with the establishment of a single manufacturing operation.
Under the plan, which general manager Edward Tome said would require US$500 million, IDC plans to push products like phosphate and fertiliser into southern Africa — a region in which economically-troubled Zimbabwe still has a big role to play.
It is a mammoth capital outlay that IDC, which is now under Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF), may struggle to bankroll.
But with dynamics shifting since the formation of MIF last year, observers say access to funding may improve.
For now, Tome said IDC was exploring equity funding.
“We are going to have an all in one plant in Dorowa,” he told the Zimbabwe Independent.
“It will produce everything from phosphates and other products. It will also be targeting the regional market.
“The project is estimated to cost around US$500 million. Remember Zimbabwe was recognised (in Sadc) as the one that will push the fertiliser value chain.
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“We are targeting exports into the region and everything will be done in Dorowa. If the project is successful, the country will benefit a lot.
“It is part of our strategy as IDC to ensure that we value-add and endow resources where they are located. So, we are strengthening the value chain,” Tome added.
IDC controls 100% shareholding in Dorowa Minerals through its fertiliser production unit, Chemplex Corporation.
Since the Dorowa plant’s last significant maintenance during the colonial era in 1975, it has been producing for decades.
Last year, IDC chairperson Winston Makamure told the Independent the firm’s plan was to cut costs at Dorowa and free up resources for funding projects that the IDC is undertaking, as it champions rural industrialisation.
“The phosphate deposits are massive at Dorowa,” Makamure said then.
“For us to meet national demand, we definitely need to ramp up production. But the plant, which we have at Dorowa is very old. I think the last time there was major plant maintenance was in 1975. We now need to move with technology.
“The money, which we are getting from magnetite exports, has started ramping up magnetite production,” he added.
Makamure said magnetite exports were expected to generate up to US$1,5 million per month, giving Dorowa a fresh impetus to fund capital projects currently underway.
“I think by July we should be producing 6 000 tonnes per month,” he said.
“Now, 6 000 tonnes per month gives us US$1,5 million per month. That is what we will now start generating.
“For us to be fully self-sufficient in terms of Compound D fertilisers, we need to move away from old antiquated equipment. We need to bring new technology,” Makamure added.
