By CHATULA KANGALI –
ZAMBEZI Portland has invested US$1.3 million in the establishment of a concrete manufacturing plant.
Company operations director Daniele Ventriglia said in an interview that the setting up of the cement plant was part of the company’s policy to promote value addition and job creation in the country.
Mr Ventriglia said that the company was currently establishing a concrete manufacturing plant in Ndola.
He said that the plant which was expected to be commissioned in April this year would have the capacity to  produce 500 cubic metres of concrete per day.
“Zambezi Portland core business has been cement manufacturing but  we  are  now  diversifying  our operations by  adding  value  to what  we  produce, we have a block manufacturing  plant and very soon we  will start  manufacturing  concrete,”  he said.
Mr Ventriglia said that the company was targeting to supply  the concrete  for  the  construction of the  new Ndola Airport and the construction of roads in the country.
He said  that  the supply  of the  concrete  to the  Ndola airport  would  help  expedite  the works because the raw material  would be  near  the  source  and  readily  available.
Mr Ventriglia said that the  company  was  currently supplying all  its products to  the  local market and had halted  its exports  to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) due to political instability in that country.
He said that the company had maintained its market share and the Eagle Cement it recently introduced on the market was performing well.
Meanwhile, the company is still waiting  for approval  from the Zambia Environmental Management Authority (ZEMA)  for the construction of a five-megawatt  solar farm  at a cost of $7 million.
Mr Ventriglia said that the company had last year submitted the Environmental Project Plan to ZEMA for consideration.