SWISS-BASED cement maker Lafarge Holcim’s local unit, Lafarge Zimbabwe says it expects sales volumes to plunge 30% year-on-year in the second quarter of the year due to the COVID-19-induced lockdown.
It is projected that Q2 2020 volumes will decline by 30%, with the possibility of spillover risks impacting the second half of the year,” company secretary Flora Chinhaire said in a trading update.
The company said while the ripple effects of the lockdown and border closures were still to be fully quantified, the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak was envisaged to spill over into the second half of the year.
Volumes in the first quarter were 3% above budget.
The business has managed to maintain distribution costs at below both prior year and current year budget,” Chinhaire said.
