Foundry sector sees 50pc increase in local product consumption

CONSUMPTION of locally-manufactured products from the domestic foundry sector has increased by 50 percent underpinned by improved activity in the mining industry.

The surge in the uptake of local products, according to the Zimbabwe Institute of Foundries (ZIF) is also attributed to the construction industry which now prefers domestic products because of their durability compared to cheap imports.

ZIF chief operating officer Dosman Mangisi, in a recent interview said, while industry previously expressed concerns over cheap imported products, there is now high demand and recognition of domestic products with local foundries slowly claiming their market share.

“Of late as ZIF, we have observed that the uptake of products produced by the local foundry sector in the market has improved to 50 percent from 40 percent.

“The trend is spurred by the mining industry where a majority of small to medium-scale miners are consuming more of local products because of the accessories durability and better quality compared to cheap imported products.

“The other contributing factor is the drought situation that we are currently experiencing as a country — most of the rural folk have opted to go into mining especially gold and semi-precious stones in areas where the resources have been discovered to eke out a living.

“To that effect, this has triggered demand for accessories such as mill balls, hammer mill beaters and liners, stamp mill spares, ball mill spares and the like produced by the foundry,” he said.

Zimbabwe is endowed with minerals such as gold, chrome, coal, and semi-precious stones like beryl, talc, amethyst, and aventurine, mostly found in areas such as Hurungwe, Karoi and Mutoko, among others.

The mining industry is one of the country’s major economic mainstays, contributing over 75 percent of national export earnings.

In 2021, domestic mining firms started developing local content guidelines for the sector with a view to boost industrial production and grow the economy through forward and backward linkages and cut imports.

The move dovetailed into the Government’s drive for local procurement and production that forms part of efforts to rebuild and grow the economy — other countries, for instance neighbouring South Africa, have strictly enforced local content policies for as high as 85 percent domestic input and thus promoting linkages locally and propelling economic growth.

“On the construction side, there has been an increased uptake of accessories such as manhole covers and short collar joints from the domestic market because of the products durability.

“Some of the imported products like manhole covers are not strong enough to withstand pressure exerted by a 10-tonne truck, if for instance, someone drives over the manhole cover at a service station — the manhole cover breaks.

“As a result of such scenarios, local construction companies now prefer to source their products locally,” said Mr Mangisi. -ebsinessweekl