Rolled steel. Tanzania’s production of steel averaged 10,000 tonne per annum then against a 100,000-tonne market demand. Photo/FILE
Tanzania’s MM Steel Integrated Steel Mills Ltd has made its foray into the southern African market with a $40 million plant in Zambia.
The investment is in two phases with $20 million going into the first phase of the plant for production of corrugated roofing sheets with installed capacity of 4,000 tonnes a month and employing 200 people.
The firm’s public relations officer Abubakari Mlawa said the other $20 million will go into the second phase in which the firm will be manufacturing colour roofing sheets.
Mr Mlawa said that the Zambia investment is important taking into account that there are potential markets in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
By investing in Zambia, MM Steel Integrated Steel Mills Limited aims to strengthen relationships and securely capture flat steel demand which is expected to grow.
The firm’s director of finance and administration Narendra Jain said of the company’s production of 4,000 tonnes a month, 2,500 tonnes would be exported to the DRC, Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, Angola and Namibia.
Markets
“We already have markets in DRC, Malawi and Mozambique but as soon as our production is up we will go to Angola and Namibia,” he said.
About 1,500 tonnes of corrugated roofing sheets would be produced a month for the local market in Zambia.
The MM Integrated Steel Mills Ltd plant in Dar es Salaam has an installed capacity of 24,000 tonnes of corrugated iron sheet per annum.
MM is the second major plant in Tanzania after Aluminium Africa Ltd.
According to MM Steel managing director Subhash Patel, the Tanzania plant was borne of a need to make something of the large quantities of scrap metal in the country.
Tanzania’s production of steel averaged 10,000 tonne per annum then against a 100,000-tonne market demand.
Mr Patel said MM Steel is in a joint venture with National Development Company to start producing sponge iron for the local market.
He said the production of sponge iron would begin in 10 years and that the two partners have started to finance the project to its full capacity.
Third in Africa
Tanzania will become the third country in Africa to produce its own iron after South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The feasibility study of the project has so far been completed and revealed that the project would need $100 million for its execution.
The initial estimates put iron ore deposits in the Liganga project area at 45 million tonnes.
The project can produce up to 250,000 tonnes of iron ore annually against the country’s current needs of 100,000 tonnes annually.
The NDC and MM Steel will also operate the Maganga Matitu section of the Liganga iron ore project.
