JSE-listed cement and lime producer PPC is adamant that the cement industry in South Africa needs to be protected from unfair competition in the form of imports and sub-standard products.
Lekula added that they were also engaging with the South African authorities to ensure that blended cement meets the requisite standards after independent tests highlighted extremely serious non-compliances. “To let that be destroyed by imports is short-term thinking in our view, which is why we are working with the government through the Itac application [to address these issues],” he said.
“So you put your product on that boat, with it hardly costing you anything to move the product that way. In a sustainable business, you can sell at variable cost if you don’t really care about the market where it lands and that is how they are able to do this,” he said.
PPC reported a loss per share of 0.4 cents compared to earnings per share of 21 cents in the prior period.Group overheads, excluding once-off restructuring costs of R83 million, decreased by 19%. This was a key driver in PPC achieving R65 per ton saving towards its R70 per ton savings target for PPC SA.
Van Wijnen said PPC estimates the overall market decline in cement volumes in southern Africa to be around 10% to 15% as consumer and construction sector demand continues to show signs of severe pressure.