South African cement producers have welcomed the imposition of provisional anti-dumping duties on Pakistani cement imports. Following an investigation by the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) into claims by a host of local cement producers, led by AfriSam,
The levies will run for a period of six months, effective May 15 to November 13, 2015, after which the ITAC body will submit recommendations to impose permanent duties. “Cement is being dumped at between 14.29 and 77.l15% less than the ex-factory selling price in Pakistan. Pakistan cement manufactures also enjoy structured tax benefits in their country,” said PPC.
Meanwhile, Nico Pienaar, director of the Aggregate and Sand Producers Association of Southern Africa, says while local cement manufacturers are sitting on top of extra capacity, continued cement imports are worrying. “Of concern is the growing influx of cement imports, especially from Pakistan,” said Pienaar. Statistics show that annual imports from Pakistan grew from 362,350tonnes in 2011 to 1.1 million tonnes in 2014, while their value increased from R167 million (about US$15.2 million) to R632 million ($53.36 million) during the same period. “This has further squeezed local producers’ cash flows, their return on investment and their employment numbers,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pakistani cement producers have emphatically denied claims of dumping. Dismissing the allegations, Lucky Cement CEO Amin Ganny said, “These allegations are only going to strengthen our resolve to stay ahead of the industry in innovation and strategy. We face similar issues in the Indian markets and have asked our governments to solve it, to make Pakistani cement accessible to Indian consumers.”
