Company Announcement - PPC welcomes the imposition of provisional payment in relation to anti-dumping duties on Portland cement, following the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa’s investigation into dumping of cement from Pakistan. In terms of the preliminary determination, a provisional payment in relation to anti-dumping duties of between 14.29% and 77.15% has been imposed on Pakistani cement imports up to and including 13 November 2015.
Darryll Castle, CEO of PPC commented:
“We are very pleased with the imposition of dumping duties on cement products from Pakistan. PPC and other industry players engaged with the Department of Trade and Industry and other stakeholders regarding this unfair practice which caused significant injury to the local cement manufacturing industry, including job losses and underutilisation of production capacity, especially in coastal areas.”
As part of their application to ITAC, local cement producers representing the Southern Africa Customs Union industry pointed out that:
- There was an 80% plus increase in volume of dumped imports from Pakistan between 2010 and 2014. Such growth has been at the expense of SACU producers' sales volumes over the same period.
- In 2014, dumped Pakistani imports accounted for more than 98% of all cement imports.
- Cement is being dumped in SACU at about 48% less than the ex-factory selling price in Pakistan. Pakistan cement manufactures also enjoy structured tax benefits and subsidies.
- As a result, significant injury has been caused to the cement manufacturing industry in SACU, including job losses, underutilisation of production capacity and reduced return on assets employed.
“We believe that strong local competition exists, supporting fair industry pricing, quality products and job creation on a sustainable basis,” Castle concluded.