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PPC said this was due to organic growth in the local  market mainly in Harare and Mashonaland areas and production challenges experienced by competitors in the  country.
The cement manufacturer said its Zimbabwe sales will continue growing in 2012 but at a lower rate  than in 2011 as its competitors would have resolved  their operational challenges.

“This volume combined with a price increase in January 2011, significantly enhanced revenue and increased the Zimbabwean contribution to the group’s earnings per share by 45 percent,” said PPC in its 2011 annual report.
The cement producer said the key driver for organic growth in Zimbabwe was retail demand for the construction and expansion of private housing.
It said the other influencer of demand in Zimbabwe recently was a result of increased activity in mining and road projects.

“Given the need to supply rising local demand in Zimbabwe, our exports to neighbouring countries were curtailed.”
On environmental performance, PPC said its Zimbabwe operations received two “insignificant” monetary fines and one non-monetary sanction during the period under review.

On the outlook for 2012, the company recommended that resources for environmental management for Zimbabwe to be investigated.
It also recommended that environmental legal training be undertaken for all its senior team members.

The firm said Zimbabwe operations would also be  trained on the business continuity standard and group risk will facilitate the development of comprehensive continuity and recovery plans.
During the year, routine disaster recovery exercises were successfully performed.

PPC Zimbabwe’s infrastructure has been upgraded to the latest technology and future disaster recovery exercises will be remotely conducted from Sandton in South Africa.
In order to maintain a constructive relationship with the Government, the company said it continued to engage with the authorities to obtain clarity on the future requirement and measurement of indigenisation.