[ad_1]
Chinese investors signed agreements to build a $ 10 billion metallurgical complex in South Africa during President Xi Jinping's state visit this week and hope to start construction next year, Reuters told a provincial official. The President of Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, said at a joint press conference with Xi that China had committed to invest $ 14.7 billion in the southern economy -African, but neither of the two leaders mentioned the $ 10 billion complex. Growth, after a decade of stagnation, targets $ 100 billion in new investments over five years.
The complex, which is still in the draft stage and provides for the construction of a stainless steel plant, a ferrochrome plant and a factory of Silicomanganese, – Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies, said Tuesday that China is considering a metallurgical project in a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), but it has not revealed the fact. scope of the project or schedule.
The executive involved in the project, who did not wish to be named because he was not allowed to speak to "The investors for the SEZ project were in the room when Ramaphosa and Xi spoke to the press, "said the executive.
Richard Zitha, project director at the Musina-Makhado ZSM where the complex will be based, said the project was run by Chinese state-owned companies, but he declined to name them.
He said that Chinese investors would look for Black Economic Empowerment's badociation with South African rules designed to tackle racial disparities more than two decades after the end of apartheid.
Investors were open to investors from other countries who joined at a later stage, he said. Investors have been going to South Africa for a week and have been visiting mines to find inputs for the project, "Zitha said.
ZSM Musina-Makhado is located in Limpopo Province near Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Botswana.
The SEZ plans to house factories with a capacity of 3 million tons per year of stainless steel, 3 million tons per year of ferrochrome and 500,000 tons. tonnes per year of silicomanganese These capacity targets are subject to change and will be finalized by the end of the year, said the executive.
A coal-fired power plant, a coking plant and a coal washhouse will be built parallel to the metallurgical plants, a presentation prepared for investors
Part of the steel production of the complex has been reserved for export to China, while d & # 39; Other products would be sold to Southern African countries, according to the executive.
South Africa is already a major exporter of alloys Investors hope to receive the necessary environmental approvals by the end of March and will begin construction, says Zitha
Source: Reuters (Edited by James Macharia and Jason Neely)
[ad_2]
Source link
