SA Affordable Housing May - June 2020 // ISSUE: 82

ASSOCIATIONS ‘Unfair’ imported cement volumes threaten local jobs Imported cement is ‘undercutting’ the local industry by up to 45%, says Bryan Perrie, Managing Director of The Concrete Institute (TCI). Perrie is spokesperson for the local cement industry on the subject of cheap cement imports. He says South Africa’s major cement producers, in an initiative driven by TCI, late last year applied to the International Trade Administration Commission of SA (ITAC) for what is known as a ‘safeguard action’ against cheap cement imports. A letter was also sent to the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) to advise the department of their plans to seek approval for ‘designation’ of South African-produced cement as the only to be used in state funded infrastructural projects. Perrie says the industry is not calling for a total ban on imports but rather seeking tariffs to safeguard the local industry. Imports are able to undercut to such a degree because they do not have to comply with rigorous local regulations in terms of health and safety requirements, BEE requirements, the newly introduced carbon tax, with escalating energy costs and labour union pressures – all which add to local production costs but not foreign costs. It also comes at a time when the local cement manufacturing industry is already struggling with weak demand resulting from lack of public sector infrastructure spend in 2018 and 2019 and poor economic growth. He says that while the domestic industry has an annual production capacity of approximately 20 million tonnes, demand is flagging at around 13 million tonnes which is the current level of production, while in 2018 one million tonnes of imported cement came into the country – adding to the demand deficit. Imports have been especially growing from Vietnam and China and achieving anti-dumping duties on cement from these countries may be a Phyrrhic victory, says Perrie, as then imports may simply originate from a different country. He relates the example of what occurred in 2014, when cheap imports were being dumped in South Africa from Pakistan. The cement industry then took the same action as now, applying to ITAC for anti-dumping tariffs which were granted in the beginning of 2015 varying between 14% DIY NEWS Cement imports are putting local jobs at risk. 10 MAY - JUNE 2020 SAAffordHousing saaffordablehousingmag SA Affordable Housing www.saaffordablehousing.co.za

SA Affordable Housing May - June 2020 // ISSUE: 82 | Page 12