Cooking Oil Manufacturer, Surface Wilmar Suspends Operations Due To Forex Crisis

Local cooking oil manufacturer, Surface Wilmar has suspended operations. The country’s biggest cooking oil manufacturer has been forced to take the decision due to the worsening foreign currency crisis. The company makes Pure Drop cooking oil and the Buttercup margarine and Olivine brands.

This development comes when the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is failing to provide the foreign currency needed for the importation of key raw materials. Some local companies have gone as far as setting prices in US dollars, a move the government says is illegal.

Surface Wilmar chief executive Sylvester Mangani said:

We have stopped our operations because the company has not been getting adequate foreign currency and this has led to the ballooning of our obligations with our foreign suppliers who have since indicated their intention to stop supplying the raw materials. Foreign currency has been a challenge hence our current position to stop the operations until further notice.