The largest dimension stone factory in Africa - about seven kilometres outside Walvis Bay - is expected to start production within the next three months.
Minister of Trade and Industry Calle Schlettwein will be introduced to the Yu Tian Stone Product Factory today. The factory is part of the Chinese international corporation Best Cheer Stone Group.
The Walvis Bay municipality in its 2014/2015 capital budget said it allocated land to the factory to promote industrial development in line with the fourth National Development Plan (NDP4).
This will apparently be the first factory where dimension stone (or granite, not marble) will be processed into a variety of final products, which include dimension stone tiles, table tops, mosaic and other commercial products specifically for basic building material to building decoration. Even the sludge-waste from the processing will be recycled into dimension-stone bricks.
A 30 000m2 ‘hangar’ on the road towards the Walvis Bay international airport is evidence of the enormity of the plant, which is expected to process up to a 1 million tonnes of dimension stone every year.
Granite blocks of up to 30 tonnes a piece are brought via low-bed truck from several of the company’s quarries around the country and in the Erongo region.
They will be sawed, filed, cut and polished into the various products at the factory.
“We are going to make Namibia an important country for the final product in dimension stone,” said general manager Mike Cai to The Namibian in an exclusive interview.
He said Namibia has good quality dimension stone that will offer international markets quality products. The fact that the port of Walvis Bay is being developed into an important regional import and export gateway, was also an attractive incentive for the investment into the Yu Tian facility.
Yu Tian in the Chinese language means something like ‘great joy’.
“It will make everyone happy; from the investor, to the workers, to the Namibian government; to the clients across the world,” Cai said.
While there are several granite plants in Namibia, Yu Tian has the advantage of having direct links to foreign markets.
It is expected that about 1 000 people will be employed at the plant, and according to Cai, “sustainable skills development” is key to ensure that Namibians are not just employed there but are also partners in the business.
Minister of Trade and Industry Calle Schlettwein will be introduced to the Yu Tian Stone Product Factory today. The factory is part of the Chinese international corporation Best Cheer Stone Group.
The Walvis Bay municipality in its 2014/2015 capital budget said it allocated land to the factory to promote industrial development in line with the fourth National Development Plan (NDP4).
This will apparently be the first factory where dimension stone (or granite, not marble) will be processed into a variety of final products, which include dimension stone tiles, table tops, mosaic and other commercial products specifically for basic building material to building decoration. Even the sludge-waste from the processing will be recycled into dimension-stone bricks.
A 30 000m2 ‘hangar’ on the road towards the Walvis Bay international airport is evidence of the enormity of the plant, which is expected to process up to a 1 million tonnes of dimension stone every year.
Granite blocks of up to 30 tonnes a piece are brought via low-bed truck from several of the company’s quarries around the country and in the Erongo region.
They will be sawed, filed, cut and polished into the various products at the factory.
“We are going to make Namibia an important country for the final product in dimension stone,” said general manager Mike Cai to The Namibian in an exclusive interview.
He said Namibia has good quality dimension stone that will offer international markets quality products. The fact that the port of Walvis Bay is being developed into an important regional import and export gateway, was also an attractive incentive for the investment into the Yu Tian facility.
Yu Tian in the Chinese language means something like ‘great joy’.
“It will make everyone happy; from the investor, to the workers, to the Namibian government; to the clients across the world,” Cai said.
While there are several granite plants in Namibia, Yu Tian has the advantage of having direct links to foreign markets.
It is expected that about 1 000 people will be employed at the plant, and according to Cai, “sustainable skills development” is key to ensure that Namibians are not just employed there but are also partners in the business.
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