Case study

DISCO now $60\%$ complete

THE US$$1,5$ billion steel plant being constructed in Mvuma, $200km$ south of Harare, by the Chinese giant, Dinson Iron and Steel Company $($Disco$),$ is now $60\%$ complete. Construction of the steel plant, which is touted as Africa's biggest integrated steelworks, began last year. Project manager Wilfred Motsi told source in an interview that construction work was at an advanced stage way ahead of schedule.

"Construction works are at $60\%$ towards completion of the plant and we are anticipating to kick$-$start production from October to November this year," Motsi said. At the completion of the first phase, the plant will produce $1200$ million tonnes of carbon steel. In $2022,$ the firm revealed that a power deal had already been signed for the plant with power utility, Zesa Holdings.

Under the deal, the Chinese firm will extend US$$55$ million in loans to Zesa, which will be used to construct a powerline linking its plant to the national grid. Motsi said they were currently mobilising the equipment for the powerline after pretiminary work and designs for the construction were completed.

He said they had also courted development partners for the construction of a railway line that would be linked to the plant. $"$We have courted some development partners towards the construction of a railway line linking the plant and currently, we are doing feasibility studies which are at an advanced stage, once we are done then we start the construction," Motsi said."We have also started the resettlement process of those people who were affected and we are parcelling out houses to them."

The project manager said a total of US$$50$ million was availed for the construction of dams in the area which will supply water to the plant and the surrounding communities, including other mines.

$"$We have invested close to US$$50$ million towards the construction of dams which will supply $130$ million megalitres of water to the plant and the communities and other mines and the town $($Mvuma$),$ including Chivhu, will benefit from the dam. At the plant, we will use one$-$tenth of the water in the dam and on this project, we are partnering Zinwa $[$Zimbabwe National Water Authority$],"$ he added.

The firm said it saw opportunities in Zimbabwe despite that scores of steel firms, among them ZiscoSteel, have collapsed in the past two decades, forcing the country to import $90\%$ of its steel requirements.

Last year, the firm's chief executive officer Benson Xu said an explosion of infrastructural developments in Africa had ignited the appetite for steel products which his firm would be able to meet. "The market is huge in Zimbabwe and even more in Africa where there is a boom of the construction and infrastructure development industry," he said. $"$As a company, we cannot satisfy the local

demand. Even in regional markets, in China, our parent company requires millions of tonnes of steel and we cannot provide what it requires, so the market and demand are huge."

The company plans to produce $20$ million tonnes of carbon steel annually by the year $2030.$ In the following three years, it said, its businesses in Zimbabwe would consume more than $500$ megawatts, making them the country's biggest power users.

Disco is one of the three subsidiaries of Tsingshan Holding Group Limited, which is the world's largest stainless steel and nickel producer. The corporation has production facilities in China, Indonesia, India, the United States and now Zimbabwe. The business has constructed a $350000$ tonne per year coke factory in Hwange and a $150000$ tonne per year ferrochrome facility in Selous, Chegutu district.

Source Newsday

Required

a$)$ DISCO is a massive project which if not managed well may delay and experience cost overruns. Detail the anticipated risk in such a massive project using the input$-$technique$-$ output approach. $[15$ marks$]$

b$)$ The project was said to be "way ahead of schedule $....$"This signify project risk management efforts success. Outline and evaluate some of the strategies the management of DISCO has employed to counter anticipated hazards. $[10$ marks$]$

c$)$ Monitoring is critical to success of projects as it allows project stakeholders to ensure implementation of risk response measures. As the project manager of DISCO evaluate how you would undertake risk monitoring process at DSCO $($input$-$technique$-$output approach$)[15$ marks$]$