beneficiation
All photos courtesy of Afrimat
Nationally , Afrimat Readymix consists of four divisions , namely KwaZulu-Natal , the Western Cape , the Free State and , the most recent operation , its Mpumalanga division .
“ We started our Mpumalanga division in July 2016 . The KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape divisions were family businesses that merged with the establishment of Afrimat in 2006 ,” says Paton . “ Afrimat owns approximately 100 ready-mix vehicles nationally and a large component of that is in the Western Cape ; it is therefore the largest part of our ready-mix business at the moment .”
Prominent revenue from mobile plants
Although Afrimat ’ s mobile operations in the Western Cape are low in numbers compared to its fixed plants , the volumes that came out of its mobile units in 2016 surpassed revenue from fixed plant operations .
Approximately 25 % of projects came from mobile work , while it comprises only 10 % of the equipment .
Afrimat has completed a prominent amount of projects in the renewable energy sector through its mobile operations . “ We recently finished a job on a wind farm near De Aar and have been involved in a couple of solar projects .”
The regional fixed plants include operations in Bredasdorp , Vredenburg , Worcester , Hermanus , Robertson , Botrivier
Afrimat ’ s ready-mix plant in Worcester . and Ceres , while Afrimat owns four fixed plants in the City of Cape Town . The mobile plant fleet comprises three units , which , as stated , have been predominantly deployed at renewable energy projects . “ The future of wind farms seems to be in the balance at the moment , but we have been working on solar and wind farms in rural areas for eight years , and we are confident that this business will continue .”
Is the industry awakening from a market slump ?
Afrimat has a strategic long-term vision of investing in people , technology , and product consistency , and thus , remaining competitive is critical to its business sustainability .
The ready-mix industry is certainly looking back on a couple of tough years . Barriers to entry for ready-mix operations remain low , and although numbers could appear lucrative , several emerging players had to bite the bullet and shut down over the past five years , struggling to compete in an ever-increasing competitive industry .
“ The market at the moment remains very aggressive and that ’ s a big challenge for the industry overall . Competition is rife and prices are low . At least 10 players are competing for business . I would like to think that we are operating in the top three of the ready-mix producers , but it remains challenging nonetheless ,” says Paton .
However , despite these challenges , 2016 has been a great year for Afrimat Readymix , specifically for the Western Cape division . “ Generally , we saw an increase in activity across the province . This , coupled with our focus on mobile plants , has made it one of our best years for a while . We will remain focussed on customer interface , personal relationships with clients , and service delivery to maintain our market position in 2017 .”
The recent announcement of civil and building investment at the V & A Waterfront and Cape Town ’ s central business district ( CBD ) bodes well for the business outlook ; therefore , Paton hopes that good volumes and sales will continue as a result .
A further issue that needs to be taken cognisance of is the competitiveness in the cement industry , which trickles down to ready-mix business . “ When you start pushing prices down , it naturally has an impact on your business . Prices have dropped nationally and if it keeps dropping , you have to sell the same volumes to obtain the same margins , putting pressure on the ready-mix industry . Although the Western Cape is not as severely affected , producers need to keep an eye on this challenge .”
Towards wiser water use
Another challenge is that of water restrictions in Cape Town . “ We are investigating a number of initiatives to help reduce water , including the development of creative mix designs and recycling water in our plants ,” says Paton .
A ready-mix plant uses approximately 300 000 litres per month . With the severe drought plaguing the Western Cape , a number of ready-mix operations have started to look at using recycled water . When a ready-mix truck comes back from a delivery , normally the truck is rinsed and the water is put into a recycling pond and then pumped back .
“ We have not seen penalties yet , but the local authorities have indicated that users who exceed their daily limits will be penalised . We are therefore looking at various avenues to reduce the amount of water in our concrete mixes . If you do that , you reduce the amount of cement and therefore , you can also improve cost efficiencies ,” says Paton .
Water plays a big part in the cost of concrete . The more water you use , the more cement you need to add to your product — cement being seven times the cost of aggregates .
QUARRY SA | march 2017 _ 25