eBusiness Weekly
Fradreck Gorwe
Zimbabwe Stock exchange-listed leading plastic pipe manufacturer, Proplastics Limited, prides itself of over 50 years of operation.
The company specialises in the production of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) pipes and related fittings for irrigation, water and sewer reticulation, mining, telecommunications and building
Products include PVC pressure pipes and Fittings, polyethylene pipes and fittings, waste drainage pipes, borehole casings, PVC electrical conduits and gutter systems among others.
The company was first established in 1965 as Promat, then a plastic pipe manufacturing subsidiary to a contracting group, Murray and Roberts. It was actually the first subsidiary for the contracting group.
Promat was solely meant for the manufacturing of plastic material needed in Murray and Roberts’ construction projects as the company then sought to lessen expenditure and escape from the burden of importing plastic materials for plumbing works.
The holding company, Murray and Roberts Construction was rebranded to Masimba Holdings Limited in 2013.
Two years later in 2015, the pipe systems manufacturing unit, Promat was unbundled through a dividend in-specie and listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange as Proplastics Limited.
Unbundling and subsequent listing was done to enable Proplastics to grow separately through mergers and acquisitions and through relations with other companies in the same business. It was also done to strengthen the Proplastics brand and unlock shareholder value.
The only Zimbabwean corporate member of the Southern Africa Plastic Pipe Manufacturers Association (SAPPMA) was in October 2015 accredited to Installation and Fabrication Plastics Pipe Association (IFPA) membership. The milestone empowered it to partake in the control and regulation of fabricated fittings manufacturing.
Pursuant to listing on the bourse, the group embarked on a retooling spree which saw the commissioning in November 2016 of a new state-of-art PVC pipe plant with capacity to produce a maximum output of 770 kilogrammes per hour of finished product.
The retooling strategy was considered imperative as the company placed growth prospects in the knowledge that the country’s piping infrastructure needed some rehabilitation.
By early 2017 the group started exploring the possibility of constructing a modern factory at its premises. Civil works were expected to start in the second half of the year upon completion of final assessment by the Board. The new factory was expected to bring greater efficiencies, reduction in overheads and increased production volumes, the very reasons for initiating the retooling exercise.
Construction of ultra-modern factory subsequently commenced during the year and was initially expected to be complete within 10 months’ period.
At the close of 2018, the new Proplastics factory was 97 percent complete with plans to procure the remaining equipment in the first half of 2019 to commence full operations.
Meanwhile, the group is devising ways to meet its foreign currency requirements for enhanced operations and export competitiveness.
The company had a market Capitalisation of $206 587 215 and a share price of 82,00 cents as updated on December 11, 2019.
Kudakwashe Chigiya is the current group chief executive officer.
