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Michael Magoronga Midlands Correspondent
The deal in which ZimCoke (Private) Limited is set to revitalise a coke plant within Ziscosteel, now awaits Cabinet approval.

The firm took over a coke oven at Ziscosteel in a $133 million deal viewed as the first step towards revitalisation of the steel giant.

ZimCoke and Zisco signed an agreement of sale in 2017 where ZimCoke bought the coke-making assets consisting of the plant and machinery, land and buildings, and associated infrastructure.

Refurbishments are expected to begin soon after the Cabinet nod and production is expected to kick-start before the end of the year.

In an interview, ZimCoke consultant Mr Eddie Cross said once the deal sails through Cabinet as expected, refurbishment work will kick-start.  The company has since roped in the services of a Germany Engineering Consultancy Company, ThyssenKrupp Engineering, for the refurbishment of the coke plant before it kick-starts operations. The refurbishment of the plant, is the last hurdle before the company commences production which is expected before the end of the year.

ZimCoke management together with ThyssenKrupp engineers, on Tuesday toured the plant to how much work is needed.

“These are technical consultants and they are on site to carry out an assessment of how much work needs to be done as we await the decision by Government. Once that is done we are ready to start refurbishment and within six months, exports will begin,” Mr Cross said.

ZimCoke recently announced plans to invest about $75 million into Hwange Colliery Company Limited’s coke division in a bid to capacitate the company and enhance production.

At full capacity, the Zisco project is expected to produce 500 000 tonnes of coke annually, for both local usage and the export markets.