
Displaying items by tag: NRCS
Vietnamese imports reignite South African regulation battle
21 November 2012South Africa: The South African National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) has confiscated 'sub-standard' cement imported from Vietnam and is investigating complaints lodged about the quality of two other imported brands.
Daniel Ramarumo, a NRCS spokesman, confirmed that it had received complaints from NPC-Cimpor about Vietnamese cement, which was 'later confiscated by the regulator' in August 2012. The NRCS received a second complaint in September 2012 about Lucky Cement and had instituted an investigation. A third complaint from NPC-Cimpor was lodged on 5 November 2012 about Lucky Cement and Falcon Cement. He said that these complaints were currently under investigation.
PPC (Portland Pretoria Cement) chief executive Paul Stuiver commented that his company had tried to engage with the NRCS about allegedly inferior quality and underweight imports but was 'getting nowhere' because the NRCS had indicated it had tested the cement and it had complied with the standard. Stuiver now plans to raise the issue with the Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel.
Stuiver also added that one of the imported cement brands had an elephant on its bags, which resulted in PPC taking them to the Advertising Standards Authority and 'getting them stopped', as PPC also has an elephant on its bags.
Lucky strike for imports to South Africa
15 August 2012Pakistan's Lucky Cement received the 'all clear' for its cement imports from the South African regulators last week. The situation exposes the increasingly competitive market in the country after the South African Competition Commission cartel investigations in 2011.
Sales of Lucky Cement were originally shut down in 2011 due to accusations made by its competitors, including Pretoria Portland Cement (PPP) and Natal Portland Cement (NPC). They complained that Lucky was not complying with South African standards. South Africa's National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) then ran its independent investigation and released its results last week.
The regulator's full 28-day test found no evidence that Lucky Cement imports were non-compliant with regards to their quality. A minor infringement concerning underweight bags was found and fixed. However, about a week beforehand, Lafarge South Africa's CEO said that his company was considering approaching another trade body with concerns about 'low-quality cheap cement' imported from Pakistan.
More serious criticism came from the Cement and Concrete Institute when the NRCS admitted that it didn't know how much cement had been imported into South Africa so far in 2012. The NRCS is supposed to inspect and approve the testing bodies each producer and importer uses for every 500t of cement.
Lucky Cement has been a regular importer of cement to South Africa since 2009. It exports around 1.65Mt/yr to over 22 countries in South East Asia, the Middle East and Africa. CCI figures reckon that 140,000t of cement was imported to South Africa in the first quarter of 2012, mostly by Lucky Cement. According to the Global Cement Directory 2012 South Africa's capacity is around 11Mt/yr.
Four domestic producers – Lafarge, PPC, AfriSam and NPC – were accused of cartel activity by the South African Competition Commission, in a case that has been running since 2008. PPC confirmed the existence of the cartel, whilst Lafarge and AfriSam were fined US$19.6m and US$16m respectively.
By letting Lucky Cement resume the sale of its cement in South Africa, the NRCS has arguably done more than the Competition Commission to prevent cartel activity. With reports surfacing that other producers in Pakistan and India are considering exports to South Africa, domestic producers are going to have to become more inventive and more competitive.
Lucky Cement cleared in South African quality spat
09 August 2012South Africa: The South African National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) has cleared imports from Pakistan producer Lucky Cement for use in South Africa.
Thomas Madzivhe, the NRCS's acting chief executive, said that complaints of non-compliance received about Lucky Cement imported from Pakistan had been fully investigated and the NRCS was satisfied the certification bodies had done all the necessary checks and tests and that the cement complied with South Africa's regulations. Madzivhe said that the NRCS suspected market access and competitive and market share issues might be a reason for the complaints.
Musa Ndlovu, the NRCS's acting executive for non-perishable products, said a directive had immediately been issued against Lucky Cement when complaints of non-compliance were received at the end of 2010, which meant this cement could not be sold in South Africa. Ndlovu added that the NRCS had carried out a full 28-day test on the cement but the results did not provide it with any tangible evidence to prove the product was non-compliant in terms of quality. The NRCS had only found evidence once of non-compliance but this was based on under-weight bags and not quality.