By Rex Mphisa
THE Beitbridge border post has suddenly been overwhelmed by southbound haulage trucks after Zimbabwe resumed lithium concentrate exports, albeit under strict, newly established conditions.
The conditions include mandatory export quotas and commitments to local processing.
Heavy haulage trucks formed a double-barrelled qeue snaking from the roundabout near the border post up along the highway leading to the border stretching for about a kilometre.
Zimborders general manager Nqobile Ncube said he was not in Beitbridge and would be available next week.
Following a February 2026 suspension due to suspected under-valuation, large-scale producers must now provide written plans for building local lithium sulphate processing plants to continue operating.
Key Conditions for resuming exports include mandatory local processing where companies must establish, or provide plans for, domestic beneficiation (e.g., lithium sulphate plants) before shipping.
A full ban on exporting raw lithium concentrate is scheduled for January 2027.
Individual companies have been granted specific, restricted quotas to curb previous malpractice.
Among approved producers are major Chinese firms such as Sinomine’s Bikita Minerals, Chengxin Lithium’s Sabi Star Mine, Yahua Group’s Kamativi Mine, and Huayou Cobalt’s Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe are engaging to obtain these, or have been issued, new permits.
Strict adherence to tax, environmental, and financial reporting standards is required, with a 10% tax on exports remaining until the 2027 ban.