Speaking at the opening Mathenjwa said: "PMP is a truly South African company, employs around 1 300 people and provides world-class ammunition to many customers and most notably to the South African National Defence Force and the SA Police Services. Through export it earns foreign exchange of between R200 million and R300 million annually for South Africa."
The new investment will increase PMP's capacity to manufacture lead azide by 150% to more than five tons per month. The main customers are Sasol and AEL, who use the lead azide in the manufacture of detonators for the mining industry.
According to Wolhuter, more than 35% of the company's business is derived from commercial products. These include brass strip drillbits for the mining industry, hunting ammunition and primary explosives. This baseload enables PMP to be a reliable supplier of small and medium calibre ammunition to the local security forces, as well as to various customers around the world.
Wolhuter also emphasised that safety is one of management's primary focus areas. The company reached one million accident-free hours on 2 September 2011 and boasts a low lost time injury frequency ratio of 0,27. This puts it in the top 5% of "safe" companies in the world.
