• Dry Mortar volumes surged by 95%

  • Binastore retail franchise volumes increased by 201% ahead of prior year

  • Individual home builders’ segment anchored cement volumes

Harare - Listed cement maker, Lafarge Zimbabwe Limited has recorded a strong volumes growth for the third quarter ended 30 September 2021 across all its operating units ahead of prior year’s same period, despite facing challenges in industrial performance during the review period.

The Group recorded a resilient performance in its dry mortars business, Binastole retail franchise and growth in cement volumes in the face of unplanned stoppages due to equipment failure, scarcity of foreign currency to allow for timely replacement of critical spares that are sourced off-shore and inconsistent electricity supply.

Dry Mortars business volumes ramped up by 95% ahead of the same period last year driven by increased capacity in the business following the installation of the new plant commissioned in the first quarter of 2021.

During the review period, the Binastore retail franchise achieved 201% volumes increase compared to the same quarter of 2020 owing to the increased purchases made on the Binastore e-commerce site particularly during the lockdown periods.

Meanwhile, cement volumes increased by 2.6% ahead of the 2020 corresponding period.

“The growth in the overall market continues to be driven by individual home builders’ segment as well as the ongoing major infrastructure development projects led by the government,” said the Group in a statement accompanying the trading update.

However, the Group flagged a drop in cement volumes for the fourth quarter compared to the prior year figures due to the roof top collapse incident which damaged one of its cement mills last month.

“No recovery is anticipated in the final quarter of the year as the plant will not be back online until January 2022.

The Group has therefore instituted mitigatory plans to maintain operations while critical controls are in place to avoid any further losses,” added the Group.

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