Zimbabwean tannery sees crust as key to its recovery
17/04/2018
The company has been beset by financial difficulties in recent years. In 2014, it was placed into provisional liquidation by the Zimbabwe High Court, eventually closing in October 2015. Local media reports in 2016 suggested Wet Blue Industries was preparing to re-open and was hoping to capitalise on a large stockpile of hides at the Cold Storage Company (CS) abattoir, with which it was formerly affiliated.
Wet Blue Industries judicial manager, Chrispen Mwete, has said the company needs an injection of capital to allow it to purchase machinery and to start processing raw hides and skins to the crust stage. This would allow it to generate some revenue.
“We are advocating for further value addition from wet-blue leather to crust leather as we can afford to sell the (crust) product on the local market,” he told local media. “We need $3.8 million to move from wet-blue to crust and that amount is inclusive of operational capital.”
He added that Wet Blue Industries has entered into an agreement to process 6,000 hides a month from Zambezi Tanners into wet-blue.
“We are surely on the road to recovery especially if this contract is sustained for a long period,” Mr Mwete said.
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