Dinson Iron & Steel Company Zimbabwe (Disco) which is Zimbabwe’s largest steel manufacturing plant has started producing steel billets.
The factory started production in June, making pig (raw) iron.
Steel billets are used for making a range steel products.
The steel, which is made freshly and is still in the form of a rectangle or a metal bar, is referred to as a steel billet.
Steel has to be processed into more useful pieces first before its products get sold into the market. In its pure form, raw steel will not be of any use, so it must be cast into the shape.
In October, Dinson plans to start making steel bars, used in construction.
Zimbabwe used to be one of the world’s largest steel suppliers from the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO).
In 2000, Ziscosteel operated without a fully constituted board, its blast furnaces were no longer functional while its plants and equipment was now obsolete.
As of early 2008, the company was producing less than 12,500 tonnes, far below the break-even capacity of 25,000 tonnes, by 2010, it could hardly pay its depleted workforce.
It has been claimed that more than 200 former workers have died since 2011 because they were unable to pay for medicine or hospital treatment.
Zwnews
