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Visitors observe how Proplastics’ new PVC 9 Line works before its commissioning at the company’s premises in Harare yesterday

Business Reporter—

PROPLASTICS’ latest PVC 9 Line will enable the listed plastics pipe-maker to increase production capacity to 70 percent from the current 50 percent.The new plant, which replaced three antiquated machines acquired over 30 years ago, will contribute 60 percent to Proplastics’ monthly production tonnage.

“The new kid on the block will enhance capacity at Proplastics by 60 percent and in turn enable us to satisfy local demand. The new plant will contribute 60 percent of production tonnage equivalent to 250 tonnes per month” said Herbert Mashanyare, Proplastics board member.

The plant, the latest technology in the pipe manufacturing industry worldwide, was acquired from Germany-based Krauss Maffei Group, which is among the leading manufacturers of PVC and High Density Poly Ethylene production machines and supporting systems for the plastics pipe industry in the world.

The PVC 9 plant will help Proplastics produce PVC pipes of diameter sizes 75mm, 90mm, 110mm, 125mm, 140mm, 160mm, 180mm, 200mm and 250mm for pressure rating 4 bars to 25 bars.

It is also capable of doing up to 400mm HDPE pipe and other smaller diameter pipes such 355, 315, 250, 200, 160, 110, 90, and the 75 all in millimetres.

At that production level, it will be possible to reduce imports while at the same time increasing exports within the region.

HDPE Pipes are used for water supply – portable water reticulation, sewage works, water works and water treatment plant – mining, surface and underground, agriculture/irrigation, fishing and telecommunication industry.

Provided proper installation protocols have been followed the product has a design guarantee of over 50 years.

In a speech read on his behalf, Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha said with the introduction of the new machine, capacity utilisation will increase to 70 percent from the current 50 percent.

“From the brief we had with the company executives, this is not the only investment made by the company as it has invested in over $3 million in the past three years. I believe that the new machine will help improve service delivery to your valued customers through improved quality, wider range of products and most importantly the price,” said Minister Bimha.

Proplastics chief executive Kuda Chigiya said the new machine will also help bring down production costs and ultimately price.

“I’m happy to advise that we have invested over $6 million in this plant since dollarisation. This is an efficient machine that doesn’t just ensure efficiency but also ensures that we sell a product that is competitively priced to our customers. This will also improve our economies of scale when it comes to our production and cost containment thereby allowing us to produce a more cost effective product,” said Mr Chigiyo.

The commission of the PVC 9 plant follows that of the 400mm HDPE Plant in 2014.

Local industry has been affected by lack of investment in equipment with some using antiquated machinery.

A new Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries Manufacturing Sector survey 2016 released last week showed that for instance, in the Midlands province 70 percent of manufacturers were using equipment dating back more than 20 years.

This has the effect of increasing maintenance costs, slowing down production and in some cases some companies faced closure as they could not meet the quality standards to compete with products produced in highly technological environments.

Government is, however, in the process of addressing the challenges that industry is facing and recently introduced Statutory Instrument 64 aimed at restricting importation of cheap low quality products which were affecting local manufacturers.

Proplastics Limited is the only Zimbabwean plastic pipes and fittings manufacturer listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.

It is the country’s leading plastic pipe manufacturer, specialising in the production of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) pipes and related fittings for various applications in irrigation, water and sewer reticulation, mining, telecommunications and building construction.