Tsingshan’s Zimbabwe steel unit partners with state rail firm to boost haulage capacity

HARARE, Oct 5 (Reuters) – The Zimbabwean steelmaking unit of Chinese metals giant Tsingshan Holding Group on Monday signed a partnership deal with the ​National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) to expand capacity for coal ‌and steel haulage, the state logistics company announced.

• Tsingshan’s Dinson Steel Company, whose $1 billion steel plant in central Zimbabwe started production in 2024, will haul 1.1 million ​metric tons of coal from Hwange, a distance of ​about 600 km (373 miles).
• The rail upgrade deal also includes ⁠the transportation of 600,000 tons of steel products from the Dinson ​plant to various markets in Zimbabwe and the region, the NRZ ​said in a statement.
• Grand Railway Solutions, a subsidiary of the Dinson group, will provide locomotives, wagons and fuel, with the NRZ contributing infrastructure and train ​crews, the state rail firm said.
• The deal also includes the ​upgrade of the 80-km track between Gweru and Mvuma, at a cost of ‌about $27 ⁠million, followed by the construction of a 50-km track linking Mvuma to the steel plant under a build-operate-transfer model.
• Grand Railway Services will fund the construction of the track, transfer it to the NRZ ​and recover its ​costs through ⁠offsets.
• “This deal is set to significantly increase annual tonnage for NRZ, while at the same time transferring ​the bulk of coal traffic from Hwange from ​road ⁠to rail,” NRZ said.
• NRZ has struggled for years due to under-investment by the government and has stepped up collaborations with private logistics firms and ⁠its ​bulk commodity clients to boost freight volumes, ​which collapsed from a peak of 12 million tons in the 1990s, to 2 ​million tons in 2025.

Source: Reuters