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Gilbert Tapfuma

Lovemore Zigara Midlands Correspondent
THE country’s sole flint glass manufacturer, Zimglass, is negotiating with its major customers so that they could buy shares as it seeks to raise capital to resume production.

The company is also negotiating with a Tanzanian firm on a deal, which will see the Gweru-based glassmaker selling its stockpiles of cullet to raise capital.

Cullet is broken glass.

Zimglass, which is wholly owned by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) was placed under voluntary judicial management in July last year owing to lack of working capital, mismanagement and a debt, which at the time stood at $32 million.

Zimglass needs at least $5.5 million to resume operations.

Acting chief executive officer, Gilbert Tapfuma said the company, once operational, would be capable of achieving a turnover of $20 million per annum.

With no prospective suitors in sight to come and rescue the glassmaker, which employed more than 400 workers at its peak, the firm has turned to its customers to inject fresh capital for the company to resume production.

The latest move by the glass manufacturer could be an indication that a deal with a potential Malawian investor that had committed to set up a fund to inject $10 million into Zimglass had collapsed.

The glassmaker, which produces packaging glass for the alcoholic and sparkling beverage industry, pharmaceutical and foodstuffs, has among its major customers African Distillers, Mutare Bottling Company, Olivine Industries and Datlabs.

Tapfuma could not divulge names of companies they were courting but said the negotiations were going on well.

“The issue of partners is still ongoing, we’re still discussing with our customers so that they come on board because they’re beneficiaries of this project. We used to have a partnership with Delta Beverages where we used to co-manage the business, which was a mutual relationship. There’re no timelines as yet as to when a deal with our customers would be concluded,” he said.

On negotiations to sell cullet to the Tanzanian firm, which he was not at liberty to divulge, Tapfuma said:

“There are huge stockpiles of broken glass, which are called cullet just behind our plant here.

“There’s a customer in Tanzania who’s willing to buy all that which could be another source of funding to assist in the resuscitation of operations if that deal succeeds.”

He said the company was working to find out the value of the cullet although rough estimates point that it might be worth more than $2 million.

Zimglass has the potential of producing 2,400 tonnes of molten glass per month operating at full capacity.

The Gweru-based firm is one of the companies under IDC, which have been earmarked for disposal as they have become a burden to the parent company.