South African cement plant capacity utilisation halves in June 2020

Print this page

South Africa: Cement plants were working at roughly 50% of the capacity utilisation level in June 2020 compared to that in June 2019 following the restart of production due to the relaxing of the coronavirus lockdown to Level 3 from Level 4 on 1 June 2020. The Sunday Tribune newspaper has reported that a construction slowdown is behind the decision to scale down production.

PPC head of inland business Bheki Mthembu said, “Demand is less than the supply. Most of our cement goes to retailers and then local builders, but we still cater to larger companies when bulk deals are required. The lack of large-scale construction projects has left the industry heavily dependent on residential construction. Government needs to support us through infrastructure maintenance and other projects. We were already in survival mode; Covid-19 has almost been the final nail in the coffin.”

Last modified on 15 July 2020

Register for the Global Cement Weekly email newsletter

Global Cement Weekly is Global Cement’s weekly email newsletter. Keep up to date with cement industry news, analysis, diary dates and news of people in the sector.

Register >

URL: https://globalcement.com/news/item/11081-south-african-cement-plant-capacity-utilisation-halves-in-june-2020

© 2024 Pro Global Media Ltd. All rights reserved.