Modern Quarrying Q4 2020

PPC is the biggest cement producer in Africa.

the country, while calling to order the so-called cement blenders who were taking shortcuts as far as their quality and subsequent prices were concerned,” explains Mthembu. To provide some context, figures from The Concrete Institute show that South Africa has become a net importer of cement with total imports increasing by 139% since 2016. A total of 350 441 tonnes (t) of cement arrived in South Africa during the second quarter of 2019 – the most since the third quarter of 2015. Most of the cement landed at Durban at the time – the 260 909 t that arrived there was an 85% increase on the first quarter of 2019. Combined with unprecedented low levels of demand due to slowed economic growth, the industry was already facing a survival crisis pre- COVID-19. The COVID-19 influenced hard lockdown, dubbed Alert level 5 of South Africa’s tiered approach to fighting the pandemic, saw the complete shutdown of the cement sector and the construction industry at large, leaving cement producers with absolutely no revenue during the month of April.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The cement industry in South Africa was already in survival mode pre-COVID-19 and the outbreak of the pandemic pretty much served as the ‘final nail in the coffin’

The business environment pre-COVID-19 was already tough, with the industry operating at almost half of its capacity, while the importation of cheap cement from Asia undercutting local manufacturers by at least 45% exacerbated the situation

PPC has seen a notable recovery of the market due to some small-scale building and renovation activities currently underway

PPC believes that technology and innovation will play a central role in the future of the cement industry. In such a highly competitive environment, conventional business approaches will lose their place

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QUARTER 4 - 2020 MODERN QUARRYING

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