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Tinashe Makichi Business Reporter
TURNALL Holdings Limited says production capacity for tiles fell by 28 percent due to a fall in domestic demand. As a result the company is planning to explore new markets in the region. Last year Turnall Holdings was producing 42 000 tiles per day but due to a fall in demand for tiles and other construction products, the company is now producing 30 000 tiles per day.

Turnall Holding’s tiles plant has an installed capacity of 45 000 tiles per day and when demand was high during the festive period last year, the company almost managed meet the installed capacity.

In an interview with Herald Business yesterday, Turnall Holdings managing director Mr John Jere said their production capacity has since dropped due to a fall in demand and the company is planning to explore new regional markets.

“Demand on the local market has been on a softer side due to the lack of disposable income among the consumers and our demand period ranges from August to December.

“We have received positive responses to our products from regional markets especially from countries like Mozambique and Zambia.  We hope to start exporting our products this year in order to boost revenue,” Mr Jere said.

He said following the commissioning of the production plant last year, all operations have been moving on positively and they have managed to complement the equipment that they had in the past.

Turnall Holdings has scaled down exports of fibre cement to South Africa and is currently in negotiations with customers that are willing to offer prices that will sustain the company’s operations.

“We have never stopped exporting fibre cement to South Africa but the prices have not been good enough due to fluctuation of the Rand.
“Therefore we are in negotiations with customers in South Africa that are willing to offer reasonable prices. We hope to conclude the negotiations anytime soon,” he said.

Mr Jere said liquidity was the major challenge that has been affecting the viability of the tiles business.
Turnall Holdings is currently re-orienting its business model considering that it used to focus on low segment housing but now the company has rolled out initiatives meant to cater for all consumers on the market.

The company’s major focus has been on the low-income product range, but the plant commissioned last year is expected to build capacity in the medium and top-tier market segments through new and expanded product offering.
Mr Jere said his company needed to adopt market dynamics by importing new technologies to remain competitive on the market.