Chinese Collume Coal Mine (CCCM) Management in Sinazongwe district has appealed to government to assist the mine company in requesting companies that are importing coal from Zimbabwe to start buying its coal .
The two Director from CCCM shaft two and three Xu Zian Rui and Xu Quin said the company has produced abundant coal since it resumed operation in February after it was closed for one month.
The Directors told ZANIS in Sinazongwe in an interview that the mine has no market to sale its coal as most of mining companies in the country are importing the commodity from the neighbouring Zimbabwe.
Mr. Xu said the major customers such as Lafarge Cement Zambia , Konkola Copper Mine (KCM) and other mining companies in Zambia were importing their coal from Zimbabwe.
He said the coal price in Zimbabwe was even higher than the price they were offering.
The two Directors said the scenario was affecting the workers who have been temporarily told to stop working because they have produced coal in abundance.
Mr. Xu noted that the company would be forced to close the mine if the Zambian companies fail to buy the coal they producing as the mining company had no where to sale the commodity.
He said the Zambian companies should be buying the coal from them to protect local jobs and to assist in improving the country’s economy.
“The government should assist us to save the mine from collapsing and save the jobs for employees. At the moment the workers are not motivated because they have no money,” Mr Xu said.
Mayn Nchu the Manager for Shaft One said the failure by the Zambian companies to buy coal from them was affecting the workers and the operation of the company.
“We have too much coal but we have no customers and our coal here has a reasonable price as compared to the imported one,” Mr Nchu said.
A check by ZANIS at the mine found that they were no trucks waiting to buy coal as was the case some three months ago when trucks were queuing for the product.
The workers talked to said the closure of the mine in January affected the business as most of their customers placed orders to buy coal in Zimbabwe for period of six months up to June this year.
ZANIS/TN/MKM/END
These directors are right. Our economy will benefit if government buys from our own companies instead of importing from neighbours.
After reading the article a second time, it only shows me the little coordination that exists between the government and the mines. Under normal circumstances, the government should ensure that local demand is met internally first before allowing foreign supply to flow in.
Government and mines should go for a second marriage. Or rather they should renew their vows.
Kanonga ebo
Zimbabwe need money more than Zambia.If they ask from you,you start talking.They sell you coal still you are talking.
19 fimo fimo . You really have improved mudala. You are now the Minister of Finance of Zimbabwe. Thanks for underlining your first sentence. =D> =D>
19 fimo fimo makes me think he is the wrath of ifikopo from the year 1984.
Perhaps if you actually visited this sham of a mine in a Sinazeze and the risk that it makes our brothers succumb you would take a different view………..
Zambia and Zimbabwe shall unite to make one country. Rhodesia will be born. Let RB and Mugabe decide how to rule Rhodesia.
#9 There will be one government(global government)soon.
#10 and who will be the President?
While it is important that Zambian companies buy from local suppliers , it is equally important that these Orientals improve on their public relations and treatment of their workers… they should not cry foul only when things are not in their favour …….
Manchester United has done it !! Bravo.
Well,thats marketing. They may well bbe advised to try to reduce their price to try and undercut the zimbabweans. obviously there are issues of quality among other things that the buyers are considering. And i suspect Zim coal in thyola mtengo
#10, Are you dreaming?
Even the CHINESE are imploring the MMD government to buy Zambian goods. 🙂
I wonder if they’ll listen.
You bloggers have gone to the dogs or the dogs have come to you….i really don’t know which one it is because they are all the same.
just send sales reps to your potential buyers and all will be okay.no one running a business can opt to import raw material if the same is cheaply sold locally.the questions are,do you produce enough coal to constantly meet the local demand?are you sure of your prices that they very competitive?we don’t want a situation like the one where GRZ increased import duties on mobiles before the market was even supplied with locally assembled low cost mobile phones.plz lodge yo complaints appropriately.
I don’t understand the mentality of our government leaders which does not encourage Zambian companies to first buy locally produced goods before buying foreign one. It is a shame that the chinese invester is pleading with grz to ask companies to buy their coal. For as long as we depend on consuming foreign goods,we will never prosper as a nation. It does not even make sense for us to be buying South African food in shoprite when Zambian foods are rotting
Oh… that sounds bad
“The workers talked to said the closure of the mine in January affected the business as most of their customers placed orders to buy coal in Zimbabwe for period of six months up to June this year”…One cannot blame the customers. Mr Xu please ensure break downs are sorted out same day not three months!
Where is Felix Mutati on such issues? A minister should come in and ensure that Lafarge buys from these guys and also make it a point that all other concerns about the break downs, the quality as addressed so that the cement price can come down.
Xu Zian Rui and Xu Quin , why should the zambian compnies buy something that is rightfully theirs and you wonder why they are buying from Zimbabwe.
# 23 Ba Honey
are you serious ? that is mugabes mentality, lookat his country now. Because some thing is produced in zed, it should be free to zambians ??.get an education
The problem is the word free trade has confused GRZ. Look at shop right, 3/4rs of fresh produce is trucked in from SA.
#12 Utozi chwani!
#24 kc says, please dont insult my inteligency, iam more educated that you. just because you graduated from mumuni or chibelo basic, makes you think others are dull, please watch your mouth, or let me say, shut up. If the Coal in Zim is Cheaper, the others will got to Zim ,
This would be good for zambia coz then we won’t lose the forex we badly need at the moment to stabilise the exchange rate. the only problem may be that the quality/type of their coal may not be easily that required by the mines
24 kc , its becuase of pipo like ewe that why the Coal miners are suffering. Do you know that these miners are only given a basic wage. For this resaon , some companies think it is not right for their brothers and sisters to suffer. and also for morole reasons. I can can choose where i want to spend my money , not to give the Chineese who treat the Zed workers like animals. The workers are not even given protective clothing.
it is not logical indeed but i guess the china man as well should learn to be pro-active and not just cry out to government. king RB naimwe, ala be in charge its the 5th month we know but wake up bwana mwalasekwa na kufipuba.
It seems like most of you “talking heads” on this blog have missed the point? Please read the last part of the article: Quote “…. The workers talked to said the closure of the mine in January affected the business as most of their customers placed orders to buy coal in Zimbabwe for period of six months up to June this year.” Any responsible and serious business would want to have/secure a steady source of fuel (in this case, coal). What do you expect these companies to do if their source of fuel shuts down for a month or two? Should they also closeup shop and wait for these Chines folks to sort out their problems? If you think that that is probably why BUSINESS is a strange complicated “beast” to most of you people.
By the way, it is not government’s role to force or twist arms on behalf of certain business entities, lest they are accused of favouritism or worse— CORPERATE NEPOTISM. Let these coal mine owners go out their and market themselves and their company as dependable and trustworthy suppliers and the rest (a devoted customer base) will follow. Business Mediocrity will always turn your customers away, and this is a lesson most Zambian businesses needs to learn and learn it quick if they want to compete adequately on the global stage.
Sorry: I meant “…go out ‘there’…” in posting #31.
This article is very wrong. It is very contradictory. Havent the chinese heard of the PTA within SADC. The chinese government (CCP) seems to be promoting free trade with china, but when we as neighbors trade freely, there is a problem. Why? Zimbabwe, our neighbors and brothers can offer cheaper coal to our mines, so what is the problem. Reduce the price of local coal production and we will be back in business. Simple economics. The chinese seem to want deal in their favor. Please stop the chinese from manipulating our regional markets in their benefit !
#28 Imwe Ba Honey,
what animals, the workers them selves said how they suffered when the mine was closed. And what company trades on moral grounds in Zambia ? its dog eats dog. In your first statment # 23 you seemed to imply that Zambian companies can not buy coal from the chinese mine because the coal was zambian ? It seems you have a doctorate in Health and safety at work.
Others do that course in 1 day.
oh ya!
The problem with Zambian businesses is that every one involved in trade, Govt included, have this strange attitude that Profit Margins should be exploitative at +100% for the business to thrive. Duties on most products and tax on fuel, which is a major component in every business, and the interest rates in banks are a good example. Very outrageous. This makes the price of end products very uncompetitive. Developed countries now have interest rates at 0.5% and most businesses proudly boast of profit at around 5%. Then the workers also want to be paid very high wages for little or no work and expect the business to survive. All these add up to the cost of production raising the price of most Zambian products rendering them uncompetitive on the regional market. Soon ZESCO balaipaya kumutengo.