PPC lobbies for cement import tariffs

Listed
cement producer PPC is lobbying government body International Trade
Administration Commission (Itac) for the imposition of tariffs to curb the
influx of cement imports.  

For PPC,
the cement imports, which jumped 80% between January and November 2018,
worsened the subdued consumer environment and gloomy construction
sector. The increase comes on the back of a 71% increase in imported
cement in the six months to end-September 2018.

The
company said the majority of the cement imports were from Vietnam, China and
Pakistan.

“PPC is
lobbying for appropriate tariffs for imports for all countries, which will
level the playing field. Currently, tariffs are only levied on
cement imports from Pakistan. Furthermore, considering the current muted
economic environment, a total ban would be appropriate,” PPC said in a
statement. 

The
company pointed to over-capacity in the local market, saying current capacity
was about 18-million tonnes a year, compared to a demand of approximately
14-million tonnes a year “with the growth outlook being muted”.

PPC said
imports into Cape Town increased by 48% to approximately 209,000 tonnes. This,
however, was still substantially lower than the imports into Durban which
increased by 84%.

On
Tuesday, PPC said in the nine months to end-December 2018 cement volumes
slumped between 2% and 3% “against the backdrop of estimated market contraction
of [between] 4% and 5%”.

PPC
attributed the fall in cement sales for the nine months to an “uncharacteristically
weak” December as well as subdued construction activity.

PPC’s drop off in volumes followed the latest FNB/BER civil confidence index rising by one point to 18 in the fourth quarter of 2018 and remaining below 20 for the sixth consecutive quarter. The civil confidence index reflects the state of business conditions in the civil engineering industry. https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/industrials/2019-02-05-ppc-lobbies-for-cement-import-tariffs/