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Apple Bridge, a Special Purpose Vehicle created by Government last year to facilitate chrome ore trade is sitting on firm orders of between 12 000 and 15 000 tonnes of chrome every month but lack of capacity from producers is hampering its efforts to meet demand.
Since the lifting of the export of chrome ore ban on unbeneficiated chrome a year only about 15 000 tonnes of chrome ore have been shipped out of the country through Apple Bridge. The exports are valued at just over $1 million. Apple Bridge Investment director Masimba Chandavengerwa said in an interview that small-scale miners are failing to meet demand even for local smelters. “As we speak the major problem right now is that the small-scale miners are now failing to meet demand to service our order. We have an order book that is quite full but small scale miners are battling to produce to meet those orders. We are sitting on orders of about 12 000 to 15 000 tonnes per month and that material is not there,” said Mr Chandavengerwa.
“The main reason is that the producers lack the necessary working capital and equipment with which to produce. This is why Government is working on measures to assist small-scale miners, not only chrome miners but also gold and other minerals,” he said.Priority is given to local smelting and only excess chrome ore goes into the export market.
“Smelters are also experiencing some challenges in terms of accessing lumpy chrome ore, which can be processed locally. Concentrates are for the export market because we do not have the technology to process that,” said Mr Chandavengerwa. Apple Bridge itself is not moving chrome ore outside the country because it does not have the financial capacity. As a result, the company is resorting to selling ex-mine, meaning that customers are having to pick up product at the chrome mines. “As we grow we will be in a position to move directly into the markets,” said Mr Chandavengerwa.
But to ensure quality exports, Apple Bridge processes quality certificates for before the chrome ore is exported and this has seen customers coming back for the higher grades that Zimbabwe is known to produce. Zimbabwe is the second largest chrome producer after South Africa but it is the top grades that the world comes to the country for. Mr Chandavengerwa said the process of selling chrome ore involves the SPV identifying material from producers, guaranteeing security of product, conducting quality tests before client transfers money into Apple Bridge accounts. Once the steps have been met and client transfers the value of the chrome they are purchasing, Apple Bridge will transfer the money to the producer before product is loaded for export. He said this has ensured that producers received payment upfront, allowing them to reinvest.
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- [Editor:sunzhichao]
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