Displaying items by tag: Import

Saudi Arabia: Commercial ports in Saudi Arabia are ready to process more cement and clinker, according to a Ports Authority (PA) spokesman quoted by Arab News. The move supports a command issued by the King of the country in April 2013 that ordered 10Mt of cement to cope with local shortage.

The PA has set up 17 docking stations for handling and storage of cement and clinker. Jeddah, Dammam and Jubail have four stations each. Yanbu, Dhuba and Jazan are equipped with one site each. The authority has agreed with Saudi Arabia-based Southern Province Cement Company to import cement and clinker through the Jazan Port, as well as with Yanbu Cement Company for clinker imports. All the ports are required to support the cement companies in providing enough space for storage and loading.

Tanzania: Tanga Cement has accused cement imports into Tanzania via Zanzibar of undermining the prospects of local producers and dodging tax. Managing Director Erik Westerberg made the comments at Tanga Cement's 2013 annual general meeting. A report covering the meeting by All Africa Global Media placed the tax loss at about US$9.2m/yr.

According to Westerberg, cement consumption in the semi-autonomous province of Zanzibar appeared to be three or four times that of mainland Tanzania despite the absence of any major infrastructure or construction projects. Westerberg appealed to the government to take action and protect mainland cement producers from smugglers along the Indian Ocean coast.

Nigeria: Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, has announced plans to create a new tariff on imported bulk cement. The move follows the alleged cement 'glut' surrounding a dispute between importer Ibeto Cement and leading producer Dangote Cement in late 2012. The current duty on imported bulk cement is 10% but no levy is imposed on the commodity.

At a meeting on Nigerian business competitiveness organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Aganga said that there was no basis for importing cement clinker since Nigeria has a cement production capacity of 28.6Mt/yr. He also stated that at no time did he issue any import permit for bulk cement in 2012.

Tanzania: The Tanzanian government has rejected calls by local cement companies to place trade barriers on imported cement because local production is still insufficient. Tanzania's Minister for Industry, Trade and Marketing, Dr Abdallah Kigoda said that despite the expected progress from cement industries, the government will still allow cement imports until local producers meet domestic demand.

Kigoda admitted that although imported cement is sold at a lower price compared to locally-produced cement, it should stand as an 'eye opener' for local industries to become competitive. Tanzania has three cement factories: Tanga Cement, Mbeya Cement and Twiga Cement. Another four plants are under construction. The country's cement production capacity stands at 3.25Mt/yr with actual demand placed at 4Mt/yr.

"In order to control importation of more cement local factories had to increase production to meet the demand as the country was surrounded by potential market opportunities such as Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the East Africa Community (EAC)," said Kigoda. He also mentioned other challenges facing the domestic cement industry such as a unreliable power sources and high distribution costs caused by poor infrastructure.

Namibia: The Namibian attorney general has decided to refer a dispute about the legality of the import duty that is supposed to serve as an infant industry protection measure for cement manufacturer Ohorongo Cement to the Supreme Court. The settlement agreement was reached between lawyers representing Jack's Trading CC, a Chinese-owned cement importer, and the minister of finance and commissioner for customs and excise and was made a court order over objections from senior counsel Raymond Heathcote, representing Ohorongo Cement.

Heathcote tried in vain to persuade the court to first allow Ohorongo Cement to intervene in the latest case between Jack's Trading and the Minister of finance.

In light of the agreement Jack's Trading CC withdrew its latest urgent application in which it was asking the High Court to declare the cement import duty, as decided and announced by the minister of finance, invalid and unlawful and to set the import tax aside.

Nigeria: Ibeto Group, the owners of Ibeto Cement Company Limited, has stated that the cement the company imports into Nigeria is not responsible for any market surplus. In a statement issued by Ibeto Cement the company proposed that the first sign of a glut in the market of a product is a 'drastic' reduction in price. There has been no drop in the price of cement in Nigeria.

The group, in a statement signed by its executive director of Strategy and Public Affairs, Dr Ben Aghazu, argued that since it imports 1.5Mt/yr or less than 5% of the annual cement supply to the Nigerian market it cannot be held responsible for any surplus on the market. Ibeto Cement became the sole importer of cement into the country following an out of court settlement following the closure of its bagging plant in Bundu Ama in 2005. Ibteo Cement was subsequently allowed to import 1.5Mt/yr bulk cement from October 2007 until September 2017.

Aghazu further accused Dangote Group of trying to influence the Federal Government to 'invalidate' Ibteo's import quota by raising the taxes on imported cement or by banning clinker imports outright.

"Unfortunately, in our country the antitrust laws probably don't exist or aren't enforced when it pertains to the Dangote Group, which holds a monopolistic stranglehold on several significant and strategic sectors of the economy," said Aghazu.

South Africa: The South African National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) has confiscated 'sub-standard' cement imported from Vietnam and is investigating complaints lodged about the quality of two other imported brands.

Daniel Ramarumo, a NRCS spokesman, confirmed that it had received complaints from NPC-Cimpor about Vietnamese cement, which was 'later confiscated by the regulator' in August 2012. The NRCS received a second complaint in September 2012 about Lucky Cement and had instituted an investigation. A third complaint from NPC-Cimpor was lodged on 5 November 2012 about Lucky Cement and Falcon Cement. He said that these complaints were currently under investigation.

PPC (Portland Pretoria Cement) chief executive Paul Stuiver commented that his company had tried to engage with the NRCS about allegedly inferior quality and underweight imports but was 'getting nowhere' because the NRCS had indicated it had tested the cement and it had complied with the standard. Stuiver now plans to raise the issue with the Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel.

Stuiver also added that one of the imported cement brands had an elephant on its bags, which resulted in PPC taking them to the Advertising Standards Authority and 'getting them stopped', as PPC also has an elephant on its bags.

Namibia: Hans-Wilhelm Schutte, the managing director of Ohorongo Cement, has warned that the Namibian cement industry faces a serious challenge from foreign imports if existing import tariffs are lifted. Schutte made the statement in an affidavit filed with the High Court in Windhoek in the latest stage of a case in which a Chinese-owned cement importer wants to have the cement import duty declared invalid.

"The absence of infant industry protection will jeopardise (Ohorongo Cement's) entire operations in Namibia and may result in the need to retrench employees and down-scale (or totally halt) operations," Schutte has claimed.

Ohorongo Cement has filed an application with the High Court in which it is asking to be allowed to join the case in which a cement importer, Jack's Trading CC, has sued the Minister of Finance and the Commissioner of Customs and Excise in connection with the tariffs which have been levied on cement imports into Namibia since 27 July 2012.

According to Schutte, infant industry protection, which is allowed under the 2002 Southern African Customs Union agreement, was a precondition for the decision to establish Ohorongo Cement's plant in Namibia. Yet in his latest affidavit filed with the court, the majority member of Jack's Trading CC Yuequan Jack Huang, stated that he had signed a four-year contract to import 180,000t/yr of cement into Namibia.

Ohorongo Cement has set up a cement plant between Otavi and Tsumeb and invested about US$275m in the country. Ohorongo Cement has produced cement since February 2011. It has a capacity of capacity of 0.7Mt/yr and employs 316 people.

Finance Minister, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, imposed an import duty of 60% on cement with effect from 27 July 2012. Currently the 60% rate will remain in force until 2014 whereupon it will decrease annually to 12% in 2018. Namibia's domestic demand for cement is currently estimated to be about 0.5Mt/yr.

Kenya: The East Africa Cement Producers Association (EACPA) has warned that cement imports are not being subjected to the same technical standards and regulations as local cement. At a meeting in Nairobi, local cement producers stated that they want imports halted as the region has surplus production.

"Cement is a very sensitive commodity yet the quality issues on imports are not being addressed at such a time when the number of collapsing buildings is rising," said Kephar Tande, the managing director of the East African Portland Cement Company and chairman of EACPA.

Kenyan manufacturers are discussing the issue with the Kenya Bureau of Standards to tighten the requirements for standards and packaging. These requirements would include expiry date markings on cement bags, and information on storage and handling. The EACPA also alleged that foreign cement manufacturers are using local agents who are 'unqualified' and should now be regulated.

The East African region has a demand for cement of 5Mt/yr and it is currently producing 7Mt/yr. Plants are currently running at 78% of capacity. The EACPA added that the local industry's net profit margin is expected to dip to below 10% in 2012 compared to 15% in 2011.

US: Texas Industries (TXI) has requested that the US Department of Commerce and the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center investigate and counteract 'unfairly' priced portland cement imports from Greece and the Republic of Korea.

In a letter to the organisations, TXI, the largest producer of cement in Texas and a major cement producer in California, stated that it believes that imports from Greece and Korea are being sold at less than a 'fair' value and are benefiting from government subsidies. In addition it alleged that these imports have materially injured Texas cement producers and their employees.

Imports from Greece and Korea to Texas increased by almost 40% from 2009 to 2011, and increased another 14% from the first half of 2011 to the first half of 2012. Allegedly these imports have taken substantial sales volumes from Texan producers resulting in underutilisation of local production capacity and reduced profits.