Production at Zimbabwe's sole glass manufacturer, Zimglass, has resumed following repairs to a furnace that cost US$40M. The furnace, which broke down earlier this year due to intermittent power cuts, was re-fired in July, to start the heat-up process. The current campaign will produce green glass for a month at a rate of around 105/tpd (85% operational). There will then be a colour change to flint glass which will run until early 2008. Both products are for the local and foreign markets, which have faced a bottle shortage during the downtime. The furnace was refurbished 3 years ago after Delta Beverages injected some $4M in return for a 78% stake in the furnace. It is one of two furnaces operated Zimglass and is the only one running at present, following the breakdown of the other furnace.
