Ziscosteel can be revived

EDITOR — Thank you for your comment on the key iron and steel industry.

Its potential cannot be denied since Zimbabwe has high quality reserves of both iron ore and coking coal.

Parliament did well to invite an ex-CEO of Ziscosteel on what it would take to revive the fallen giant.

But the scenario given sounds like they hold a formula to produce only a million tonnes of steel.

Going forward, there is need to multiply the figures by 50 with a view of sustainable exports at a time China has excess steel-making capacity.

Where six locomotives were needed, now you need 300. Where a 100 000 tonnes of coal was needed per month, that figure would jump to five million tonnes.

A new dedicated power station might also be needed.

The industries involved will be for construction of road and rail infrastructure and housing stock, iron ore mining, power and oxygen generation, steel making and transport.

Port facilities would also be needed in neighbouring Mozambique.

Taking advantage of Trump’s protectionist policies or the need to create yet more American jobs, a Ziscosteel plant or two in the United States, drawing their raw materials from Zimbabwe, could see exports of 50 million tonnes or more of our direct shipping iron ore and 60 million tonnes of coal to the US per annum, creating in the process a lot of jobs.

These are the kind of transformational projects we need.

This time, however, we have to think globally across the landscape analysis, politics included, to harness economies of scale and compete with and better than the Chinese, on quality and price.

With all the inputs in the country, that should be possible, if we strike a win-win deal with major customers. Chirorodziva, Harare.