The Manufacture of Cement, Lime and Related Materials in South Africa 2022

The South African cement manufacture industry is oversupplied and under threat from low-cost imports and the proliferation of low-cost blended cements. Protracted economic stagnation has hampered the recovery of the industry as construction and government infrastructure spending have provided little growth opportunity over the past five years. Three new entrants in the last decade have put further pressure on capacity utilisation and producer prices. Cement manufacture is energy-intensive and clinker production, on which the majority of the industry is based, is particularly emissions-intensive. These and other sustainability issues are driving technological change in the industry.

Imports

Although South Africa has surplus cement production capacity, imported cement continues to flood into the country. The last two years have presented the industry with opportunities due to the temporary disruption of imports and the adoption of a more aggressive localisation policy by government. However, the domestic market remains overtraded, leading to significant capacity under-utilisation and occasional price wars. There has been an increase in cheap imports and independent blending operations, and protection against the trade of sub-standard product is limited. While the government has offered protection to the local industry through anti-dumping measures, these protections have reached their legislated lifespan and are under review, bringing uncertainty to the industry.

Report Coverage

This report focuses on the manufacture of cement, lime and related products and includes information on the size of the industry in terms of production capacity, consumption and sales and state of the industry, including the competitive environment, corporate actions and financial and operational performance of listed companies.

There are profiles of 13 companies including major players such as PPC, AfriSam, Lafarge, Sephaku and NPC, relatively new players including Mamba Cement and Cemza and lime producers such as SA Lime and Gypsum and Bontebok Limeworks.