Published: 28 February 2018

Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga told the conference Zimbabwe will impose a 15 percent penalty tax from Jan 1, 2019, on exports of platinum producers who do not build refining facilities in the southern African country.

The tax has been mooted since 2013 and been delayed a number of times to provide producers with time to comply.

His presentation showed that the tax would eventually fall to 5 percent without giving a specific timeframe, while companies could also qualify for a lower tax depending on how much product they were refining domestically.

Zimbabwe has some of the world's largest platinum reserves but is keen to industrialise an economy that is still largely reliant on primary commodity production focused on agriculture and mineral extraction.

Platinum producers in Zimbabwe include Zimplats, a unit of South Africa's Impala Platinum, Anglo American Platinum and Sibanye-Stillwater.

Amplats in December said it was nearing completion of a platinum group metal smelter at its Unki mine in Zimbabwe.

Implats said last year that "neither the smelter nor the export levy is affordable" and could result in the closure of its Mimosa mine. 
- reuter

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