US$750m Sunk into Manhize Steel Plant

Construction of Disco’s steel plant in Manhize, Mvuma, is 60 percent complete

Oliver Kazunga

Senior Business Reporter

DINSON Iron and Steel Company (Disco) has so far invested US$750 million into the construction of its US$1,5 billion steel plant in Mvuma, Midlands Province, with the project now 60 percent complete. The development of the steelworks, which is touted to be Africa’s largest integrated steel plant, began in 2022 with an initial production deadline of August this year, but this has since been pushed back to November 2023 due to incessant rains the country experienced early this year, which disrupted construction. Disco is one of the three local subsidiaries of China’s largest stainless steel producer, Tsingshan Holdings. The group’s other local subsidiaries are Dinson Colliery and Afrochine Smelting (Pvt) Limited. Speaking by telephone in an interview from Bulawayo, where he is attending the ongoing Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), which ends tomorrow, Disco project director Mr Wilfred Motsi said: “We have so far sunk US$750 million into the construction of the steel plant and the mining site. “The project is now 60 percent towards completion and I think if everything goes according to our plan by November we’ll be opening the steel plant.” At full throttle, the steel plant is expected to produce 1,2 million tonnes of steel annually with the first phase of the investment targeted to produce 600 000 tonnes of carbon steel per year for local and export markets. ReadMore