Displaying items by tag: South Africa

South Africa: LafargeHolcim staff planned to strike on Friday 12 February 2016 over wages at the local operations of LafargeHolcim, according to the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Pretoria News.

The NUM, which started pay talks with the Franco-Swiss company in October 2015, was demanding a salary increase of 13% and benefits including a housing grant, according to union shop steward Petrus Mositi. NUM members made up about half of the company's workforce. "We can still work this issue out depending on availability and willingness to find a solution," said Mositi.

South Africa: Bheki Lindinkosi Sibiya retired as Chairman of the Board of PPC on 25 January 2016 following the company's annual general meeting. He held the post since 2008. No successor has yet been announced.

PPC acknowledged that Sibiya had overseen the successful conversion of the company's mining rights and the initiation of its African expansion strategy during his tenure. It also mentioned his role in ensuring board continuity and preservation of corporate expertise during a 'challenging phase' in the company's history.

Other retirements announced include Mangalani Peter Malungani, who has served as Non-Executive Director of PPC since February 2009, and Zibusiso Kganyago, who has been a member of the board since October 2007.

Salukazi Dakile-Hlongwane has been elected as a Non-Executive Director of the Board. Dakile-Hlongwane is currently the Chairperson and co-founder of Nozala Investments Pty Limited. Her career includes posts at Lesotho National Development Corporation, African Development Bank (Abidjan-Cote d'Ivoire), the Development Bank of Southern Africa, FirstCorp Merchant Bank and BOE Specialised Finance. She holds a Bachelor's degree in economics and statistics from the National University of Lesotho and a Master's degree in development economics from Williams College in Massachusetts, USA.

South Africa: PPC has reported that its cement sales fell by 3% for its first trading that ran from October to December 2015. Cement sales in its South African business declined by 1.6% while its international businesses recorded an 8% decline, according to a trading update.

The South African cement producer reported that coastal regions in South Africa achieved positive volume growth. However this was offset by declines recorded in Gauteng and inland regions. During this period, average selling prices fell by 4%.

In Zimbabwe the completion of major infrastructure projects in Zimbabwe has led to declines of over 10% in local sales. Cement exports have also reduced due to exchange rate effects. In Botswana cement sales fell due to competition and weak demand. In Rwanda sales fell due to high rainfall and limited exports. However, the company's new 0.6Mt/yr cement plant was reported to be performing 'satisfactorily' and the kiln has passed its performance test for output and heat consumption.

Pakistan: The Ministry of Commerce has initiated World Trade Organisation (WTO) dispute settlement proceedings to fight South African anti-dumping duties on cement from Pakistan. The basis of Pakistan's argument is that the injury determination mechanism followed by South African authorities (ITAC) is flawed and does not reflect true analysis of the situation.

The Pakistan challenge has raised the issue that the South African authorities used an extended period of investigation of four years for causation analysis and didn't properly examine the evidence in the light of trends over that period. In addition, Pakistan considers that South Africa failed to examine the relationship between the alleged dumping and the worsening of the condition of the domestic industry especially by failing to consider the effects of the decartelization of the domestic cement producers. It also accuses South Africa of not properly examining the entire product under investigation and instead limiting its injury analysis to bagged cement and disregarded sales by the domestic industry of the bulk cement. Finally, the challenge has pointed out that the South African authorities didn't provide a fair opportunity to Pakistani cement exporters to defend their case, denying access to the trade statistics.

In May 2015 South Africa imposed various rates of duties on Pakistani cement exports ranging from 15 – 68% plus anti-dumping duty on the import of Pakistani cement. Since March 2015 Pakistan has been pursuing the matter on a legal and diplomatic basis.

South Africa: PPC has reported a 3% fall in cement revenue to US$526m in the first nine months of 2015, although group revenue grew by 2% year-on-year to US$645m. The decline in the cement business was blamed on increased competition.

"The Mpumalanga area was the hardest hit, with double-digit volume declines. The north-west region, although also under pressure, showed some resilience," said PPC in a statement.

Company CEO Darryll Castle said that improved performance from the company's operations in Zimbabwe and Botswana had offset the declines experienced in the core South African cement business. He said that projects in Africa would ensure that shareholders had a 'diversified portfolio of businesses in different geographies.'

Pakistan: Cement exports from Pakistan fell by 36% year-on-year to 467,000t in September 2015, as the import duty by South Africa took a heavy toll on its exports.

"Around 45 – 50% of total cement exports were destined for South Africa before the duty was imposed," said Sheikh Adeel, Senior Manager of Sales and Marketing at Maple Leaf Cement. South Africa has imposed duty as high as 77% on Pakistan's cements. Adeel said that the drop in exports has adversely affected exporters in Punjab. The transportation cost from Punjab to Karachi Port also rose by US$20/t.

Another industry official said that the industry is not utilising its production capacity. "There is enough idle capacity. The government should step in to support the industry to export surplus volumes, otherwise cement exports will continue to decline in the coming months," said Shahzad Ahmed, a spokesman of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA). "We expect the government to announce export incentives for the cement industry."

In September 2014, cement exports stood at 730,000t, according to APCMA data. Total cement dispatches were recorded at 2.95Mt in September 2015 compared to 3.15Mt in September 2014, showing a cut of 6.34%. The industry data showed that cement dispatches to domestic markets were 2.48Mt in September 2015 compared to 2.42Mt in September 2014, up by 2.6%.

The local industry has been demanding that the government curb cement imports from Iran, which they said is eating into local share. "The industry expects the government to take effective steps to stop the penetration of Iranian cement in Pakistani markets through massive under invoicing and/or mis-declaration," said Ahmed. He added that the mills in the south suffered more than those operating in northern part of the country.

In the south, domestic cement dispatches declined to 399,581t in September 2015 from 431,133t in September 2014. Domestic consumption in the north, however, rose to 2.08Mt in September 2015 from 1.99Mt in September 2014. Ahmed said that domestic dispatches in the north were nominally higher than the 2.02Mt of consumption in September 2015. "This shows that the pace of construction in the north has not been hit as badly as in the south," he said. The export decline was almost the same both in north and south. Cement exports from the north declined to 306,564t in September 2015 from 480,025t in September 2014. Exports from the south dipped to 160,698t in September 2015 from 249,906t in September 2014.

South Africa: Cement producer PPC has been named as the new naming sponsor for the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town, Western Province. "We want to cement this relationship," said PPC chief executive Darryll Castle on 6 October 2015 at the stadium.

Although an obvious play on words, Castle could not contain his excitement as it was made official that the ground will now be known as 'PPC Newlands.' "We're exceptionally proud to be creating a new moment in history for these two champion brands and are looking forward to adding real value to the sport, the community and, ultimately, the country through this new legacy partnership with the Western Province Cricket Association," he added.

The first international action at the PPC Newlands stadium will see South Africa take on England in the New Year's Test against England in January 2016.

South Africa: PPC has reported flat or falling cement prices in all regions alongside tougher competition in Zimbabwe, Botswana and its home market.

"We believe that we are at or near the bottom of the cycle," said the company in a presentation on its website. "However, increasing competitive forces in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana weigh on the near-term outlook."

PPC's cement volumes in South Africa were flat in the 11 months that ended in August 2015. Its volumes increased in Botswana and Rwanda, but declined in Zimbabawe. PPC introduced a promotional price in Rwanda after opening a new 600,000t/yr plant there on 18 August 2015. While cement imports into South Africa from Pakistan declined after new duties were imposed in May 2015, increased local competition weighed on domestic prices, according to PPC. The company's expansion into other African countries 'remains on track.' Facilities under construction in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia are all about 45% complete.

South African cement producers may be cheered this week with the news that Iranian cement is causing grief in Pakistan once more. Imported cement from Iran is allegedly undercutting local product in Pakistan through massive 'under-invoicing.' Sources quoted in Pakistan – itself a cement exporter (!) – described the situation as 'incomprehensible.'

The issue here is that Iran is doing to South Africa what Pakistan is doing to South Africa: selling cement cheaper than locally produced product. It's especially ironic this week because one Pakistani cement producer, Lucky Cement, is taking the fight against South African anti-dumping duties to the courts.

A report from July 2015 reckoned that Pakistan's cement exports might drop by 10 – 15% at the start of 2016 as economic sanctions on Iran are lifted. The report had a bit more sense than the usual scaremongering. It predicted that removing sanctions in Iran would not affect competition in Afghanistan as Iranian producers generally targeted Kandahar.

Despite this, cement exports to Afghanistan from Pakistan hit a high of 4.73Mt in the 2010 – 2011 financial year, according to All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) data. Since then they dwindled slightly for the next couple of years before decreasing more sharply from mid-2013. Overall exports fell by 11.57% to 7.2Mt in the 2014 – 2015 period. Pakistan's exports to Afghanistan may have been hit by the departure of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces and a new cement plant in neighbouring Tajikistan.

In part the battle seems to be about tax. In June 2015 the APCMA lobbied the Pakistan government to cut duties. At the time these included a 5% federal excise duty and a 17% general sales tax on the retail price of cement. One APCMA spokesman reckoned that these taxes added US$1.56 per bag of cement. More recently the APCMA rallied against a tax on cement exports and an increase in import duties on coal. In this climate, repeated news stories on Iranian exports to Pakistan dodging taxes don't sound so good.

Meanwhile, back in South Africa, Lucky Cement has started to take legal action against anti-dumping duties imposed upon its cement exports by the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC). The ITAC imposed provisional anti-dumping duties of 14.3 – 77.2% on Portland Cement originating in or imported from Pakistan from 15 May 2015 for six months. The duty was imposed on bagged cement. Pakistan-based cement producers may defend themselves by saying that they are following the laws of the countries they are exporting to. In theory Iranian exports to Pakistan that pay the correct taxes should be the same price as Pakistani products.

What this debacle shows is that things could get a whole lot worse for coastal cement markets within easy reach of Iran once the sanctions fall. National bodies like the ITAC across the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa should start tightening up their import policies now.

South Africa: Lucky Cement has filed papers in the High Court in Pretoria contesting a 14.29% provisional antidumping duty imposed in May 2015 on its cement exports to the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). The Pakistan-based cement producer has accused the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) of failing to consider the losses suffered by producers due to a Competition Commission ruling on a cement cartel, according to Business Day. ITAC intends to oppose the motion.

ITAC imposed provisional anti-dumping duties of 14.3 – 77.2% on Portland Cement originating in or imported from Pakistan from 15 May 2015 for six months. The duty was imposed on bagged cement.

"The breaking up of anticompetitive behaviour must have resulted in more normal competition in the industry with resulting lower prices and tighter margins," said Lucky Cement chief financial officer Muhammad Faisal. "It was illogical and irrational for ITAC to attribute 100% of the injury to the SACU cement industry to Pakistani exports."

Faisal also objected to ITAC's decision to retrospectively limit its inquiry to only bagged cement. The dumping margin placed on Lucky Cement was based on all its cement sales whereas ITAC focused only on bagged cement in SACU.

The Competition Commission imposed a fine of US$9.3m on Afrisam and US$11.1m on Lafarge in 2011 and 2012 respectively, after concluding that a cement cartel did exist. It estimated its intervention would save consumers US$335 – 454m for the period 2010 to 2013.