Displaying items by tag: South Africa

Namibia: The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), a South African development finance institution, says it would like to increase its share in Ohorongo Cement. It has made the statement in response to the acquisition of a majority stake in the cement producer by Singapore’s International Cement Group in March 2019, according to the Namibian Sun newspaper.

The IDC owns a 14% stake in Ohorongo Cement. It says it is committed to Ohorongo Cement and that it wants to support Namibia's indigenisation programme through local ownership. It is talking to other shareholders including the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN), which owns an 11% stake in Ohorongo. The DBN has also expressed concerns on the takeover by International Cement Group.

Pakistan: Cement exporters based in Pakistan have urged the Ministry of Commerce to approach South African authorities with the aim of overturning the existing anti-dumping duty on Pakistani cement.
"Before anti-dumping duty, annual cement exports to South Africa were worth US$700m. Now it has gone down to US$100m," said Mohammad Rafiq Memon, Chairman of the Pakistan-South Africa Business Forum (PSABF). He said that the forum was trying its best to get this issue resolved and that Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce should send a delegation to South Africa to convince the authorities to review the duty. He added that he was optimistic that South Africa would review the anti-dumping duty on cement imports and said that the situation was likely to improve by 2020.

He said that PSABF also has plans to establish a trade centre in South Africa by the end of December 2019, at which Pakistani manufacturers and exporters would be able to display samples of their products and services, along with relevant contact information. This would result in effectively promoting Pakistani products, not only in the South African market, but in other African states.

Botswana: Rachit Josh, the managing director of Matsiloje Portland Cement, say that the company will struggle to reopen without government support to block imports. The cement producer closed its plant at Matsiloje, near Francistown in January 2018, according to the Monitor newspaper. Josh blamed cement imports from South Africa as being a particular concern.

In June 2018 the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment said it was starting to introduce restrictions on imports restricting imports to 70% locally sourced product. However, it is unclear when these measures will be implemented.

Matsiloje Portland Cement is a subsidiary of Nortex Group. Its integrated plant had a production capacity of 30,000t/yr. The company produced the lime it used for its cement and it sourced other raw materials from South Africa and fly ash from a power station at Morupule.

Kenya/South Africa: Kenya’s ARM Cement is fighting moves by minority investors in South Africa’s Mafeking Cement to buy it out for a nominal sum. ARM Cement is attempting to sell its 70% stake in the company for around US$3m as part of its administration process, according to the Business Daily newspaper. Mafeking Cement owns limestone reserves in north-west South Africa and ARM Cement originally took a stake in the company to raise investment and eventually build a cement plant.

However, the minority investors have invoked parts of the shareholders’ agreement and filed a court application in South Africa that, if successful, would allow them buy out ARM Cement’s stake for a nominal price less than US$1. ARM Cement’s administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers have taken steps to counter the move.

Algeria: LafargeHolcim Algeria has exported 10,000t of white cement to South Africa via the port of Oran to Cape Town. The consignment consists of its ‘Super White’ product from its Oggaz plant, according to the Algeria Press Service. The local subsidiary of LafargeHoclim operates two cement plants, at M’Sila and Oggaz respectively, and it runs a third plant at Biskra as a joint venture with Souakri Cilas Group.

Zimbabwe: South Africa’s PPC says that its business in Zimbabwe has remained resilient despite the economic ‘challenges’ experienced over the last year. It said that it had kept its pricing in line with inflation and that demand remained ‘strong.’ Its cautionary measures in the country include: keeping 90% of input costs locally sourced; increased exports; continuing clinker imports from South Africa; and share purchases of PPC on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. Previously, PPC reported that growth had been low in Zimbabwe in 2018.

South Africa: Sephaku Cement’s revenue fell by 3.1% year-on-year to US$161m in 2018 from US$167m in 2017. Its net profit dropped by 19% to US$3.3m from US$4.07m. The subsidiary of Nigeria’s Dangote Cement said that the general poor economy in the country led to an estimate 5 – 10% decline in industry sales volumes. It blamed ‘intense’ competition between clinker grinding plants, producers and importers. Its sales volumes of cement fell by 6.4%.

South Africa: The Concrete Institute says that the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) should impose a temporary ban on cement imports to protect the local industry. The institute is preparing an application to the commission, according to the Business Daily newspaper. Bryan Perrie, its managing director, said that imports from Pakistan dropped in 2016 after tariffs were introduced. However, this has been replaced by imports from China and Vietnam. He added that prices have dropped ‘drastically,’ especially in coastal areas, that this is starting to effect jobs and cement producers are delaying expansion plans. The Concrete Institute represents PPC, AfriSam, Lafarge Africa, Sephaku and Natal Portland Cement.

South Africa: PPC’s sales volume of cement fell by 2 – 3% year-on-year in the nine months to December 2018. The cement producer said that, although prices had risen, the market had shrunk by up to 5%. Imports grew by 80% year-on-year for the January to November 2018 period. It added that its Sure Range product line had continued to gain market share against Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) and blended products. Outside of South Africa the company said that growth had been low in Zimbabwe and Democratic Republic of Congo due to local market conditions. Better performance was noted in Rwanda and Ethiopia.

South Africa: The Competition Tribunal has resumed hearings into allegations of cartel-like behaviour by Natal Portland Cement (NPC), Pretoria Portland Cement Company (PPC), Lafarge Industries South Africa (Lafarge) and AfriSam Consortium (AfriSam). It follows a referral by the Competition Commission following an investigation in 2015 that examined collusive conduct between the cement companies between 2008 and 2012. At the time PPC was granted conditional leniency and AfriSam and Lafarge settled with the Commission.