Cement production at Sephaku Holdings subsidiary Sephaku Cement’s (SepCem’s) Aganang integrated plant, in the North West, was scheduled to start this month, following the successful start of clinker production in August, the company announced on Wednesday.
Further, during the first week of clinker production, the initial consignment of clinker from Aganang had also been delivered to SepCem’s Delmas milling plant, in Mpumalanga, for which SepCem had previously been buying clinker from an outside source.
“The internally produced clinker is expected to significantly enhance the cost efficiencies and competitiveness of SepCem. To this end, and depending on the production mix, SepCem is expected to achieve a substantial reduction in input costs,” Sephaku said in a statement.
In September, the Delmas plant reached an annualised production capacity utilisation of 80%, which was an indication of the increasing sales ramp-up rate since the beginning of the year, the company said.
Further, Sephaku noted that the demand for the SepCem brand had increased significantly in the bulk and retail markets, noting that the company was currently producing cement in all strength classes with further plans in place to increase the 42.5R and 52.5N volumes produced targeting technical users.
Meanwhile, Sephaku subsidiary Métier Mixed Concrete had also completed the construction of its fourth production plant in Gauteng, with a capacity of 70 m³/h.