Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) signed an agreement with Chinese firm Dinson Iron and Steel Company (DISCO) for the construction of a 100km high-voltage transmission power line from Kewkwe to Mvuma. The line will power the DISCO’s steel blast furnace planned for commissioning in September 2023.

Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) signed an agreement with Chinese firm Dinson Iron and Steel Company (DISCO) for the construction of a 100km high-voltage transmission power line from Kewkwe to Mvuma. The line will power the DISCO’s steel blast furnace planned for commissioning in September 2023.

DISCO is a subsidiary of stainless steel giant, Tsingshan, which signed an MoU with the Government of Zimbabwe to initiate the steel project in 2018.  The project envisages a 1.2Mtpy crude steel plant, an iron ore mine, and a 500ktpy ferrochrome smelter, the latter expected as part of a second phase of construction.

Tsingshan is already well established in Zimbabwe as one of the leading ferrochrome producers, through its subsidiary Afrochine Smelting.  Ferrochrome is the key ingredient that makes steel stainless and Southern Africa hosts the largest resources of chromite in the world through the geological heritage of the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe and the Bushveld Complex in South Africa.  

More than 50% of global stainless steel capacity has been built in China, and more recently in Indonesia, but both countries have limited domestic chromite resources.  As such, it is critical for their stainless steel players to secure chromium feed, either through investment or offtake.  Project Blue expects stainless steel demand to continue to grow steadily and Southern Africa will be a key source of the chromite required to meet that demand.