Afrimat and Dangote Cement, along with Intercement South Africa (NPC), are set for trade relief after the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (Itac) found there is merit in their case against imports from Vietnam and Mozambique, with steep tariffs on the cards.
The commission on Friday said it had reviewed an application brought by the two companies on the effect of imports. It found prima facie evidence that cement imported from Vietnam and Mozambique was being dumped on the local market to the disadvantage of domestic producers.
The trade watchdog found the dumping margin (the difference between a product’s domestic market price and its export price when it is sold to a foreign country at an unfairly low price) from cement coming from Mozambique and Vietnam is 90% and 37%, respectively.
Itac said Afrimat, NPC and Sephaku Cement, owned by Dangote, provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate the material injury they have experienced can be linked to the alleged dumped imports.
This is expressed in declines in market share, sales volumes, profit and employment.
“The applicant submitted sufficient evidence and established a prima facie case to enable the commission to arrive at a reasonable conclusion that an investigation should be initiated based on dumping, material injury, threat of material injury and a causal link between the alleged dumped imports and the material injury, and the threat of material injury experienced by the Southern African Customs Union,” Itac said in a government notice.
Read: SA losing war on substandard cement flooding hardware shelves
“The applicant alleged that a threat of material injury exists and submitted evidence with regard to the freely disposable capacity of the exporters, a significant increase in the alleged dumped imports, the state of the economy in Vietnam and Mozambique, and prices of imports, which will have a significant depressing and suppressing effect on domestic prices.”
The investigation by Itac comes as Mozambique is ramping up its Portland cement production capacity.
Mozambican cement factories are set for a major expansion after the government and Chinese partners last year agreed to invest $333m in two new plants and supporting infrastructure.
Companies in the construction sector have long pleaded with the government and regulators for tariff measures to protect the local cement production sector against dumping from producers such as Pakistan.
Eighteen years ago, Nigeria’s leading industrial conglomerate Dangote bought South Africa’s Sephaku Cement for R3bn.
One of the industry’s large producers Afrisam is subject to a R2.5bn takeover bid by West China Cement (WCC), a deal that has received approval by the Competition Commission.
PPC, the leading supplier of cement and construction materials in Southern Africa, has warned that the Afrisam-WCC might see AfriSam downsize its production in South Africa and move production to Mozambique, where WCC has significant spare capacity.
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“Afrisam’s new Chinese owners currently operate a cement importation business to South Africa from its Mozambique operation. The proposed acquisition raises serious concerns for South African local production, with Afrisam becoming a distribution platform for Mozambique-produced cement,” PPC Africa CEO Matias Cardarelli told Business Times last month.
“In fact, this transaction creates strong incentives to abandon local manufacturing in favour of cheaper imported cement.”
South Africa’s high energy prices have made producing cement in the country costly. However, it has not stopped the likes of PPC from investing in expansion projects. The JSE-listed group is constructing a new R3bn cement plant in the Western Cape as part of its strategic turnaround. The facility is designed to produce 1.5-million tonnes of cement annually.
The industry has also raised concerns about substandard cement products that are increasingly making their way onto hardware store shelves.
The National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications has found that some cement products on the market are failing to meet strength requirements.
Correction: September 21 2026
In an earlier version of this story we referred to some instances of Afrimat as Afrisam.
Business Day
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