Displaying items by tag: South African Bureau of Standards

South Africa: PPC has warned of increased risks from substandard cement in the South African market, advocating for state intervention to protect the local industry from unfair competition. The broader South African cement industry continues to face challenges from dumped imports and locally blended variants, with latest Cement Import Montior research from March 2024 cautioning that local cement cement producers may be forced to mothball plants, putting thousands of jobs on the line as the number of cheap cement imports rises. PPC plans to engage with the South African Bureau of Standards for stricter compliance testing. Its recovery strategy includes exiting non-core businesses and major structural adjustments, aiming for tangible results in two years but resulting in possible in job cuts.

South Africa: The National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) has confiscated cement supplied by Rainbow Power Cement due to non-compliance with the requirements of the compulsory specification on cement. The NRCS has issued a directive against the sale and supply of such products.

“Rainbow Power Cement does not have the authority to manufacture and supply cement in South Africa as it had failed to meet minimum safety requirements in line with the NRCS Act. This has therefore led to withdrawal of the Letter of Authority as previously issued by the NRCS,” said the regulator in a statement. It added that sub-standard cement can negatively affect the sustainability of buildings and structures leading to higher maintenance costs and even structural failures.

The NRCS said that non-compliant cement was initially identified and confiscated in Gauteng province but that there were signs that the cement had also been distributed in other provinces.

Rainbow Power Cement said that it is moving to a new certifying body, the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS). It acknowledged that it is unable to sell any cement until this process is completed.

Namibia: Whale Rock Cement says it plans to start exporting cement to countries in Africa following the accreditation of its Cheetah Cement products with the Namibia Standards Institute and the South African Bureau of Standards. It hopes to send its exports to Mozambique, Congo and Ivory Coast, according to the Namibian Sun newspaper. The cement producer started producing clinker at its 1.2Mt/yr integrated plant near Otjiwarongo in late 2018. Prior to this it was importing clinker from Egypt.

South Africa: The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) has confirmed to Pretoria News that Longkou Fanlin Cement had been approved for sale in the country. However, the mandate is only part of the process the Chinese cement producer needs to secure to allow it to import cement into the country.

Thato Chabeli, the interim group manager of marketing, public relations and communications at SAB, confirmed to local press that ‘two schemes’ for Longkou Fanlin Cement had been approved by the SABS. He added that the trade body had not received any other applications from Chinese cement producers. The SABS certifies cement as being compliant with the South African compulsory specification before it can be sold in the domestic market. However, Chabeli, added that the Chinese cement producer also needed to secure a letter of approval from the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) before the company would be permitted to export its cement to South Africa. The NRCS has not responded to queries by local press on the matter.

Industry commentators have compared potential cement imports from China to those of Pakistan. Local cement producers filed a dumping complaint with the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) about cement imported into South Africa from Pakistan. ITAC made a final determination in December 2015 on the anti-dumping duties and imposed duties ranging between 14.29 - 77.15% on cement imported from Pakistan. Subsequently, cement imports to South African from Pakistan fell by 30% year-on-year. The Pakistan government has since approach the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for arbitration on the dispute.