AFRISAM
AFRISAM
Forging Concrete Possibilities Across Africa PRODUCTION: Timothy Reeder
AfriSam’s superior quality construction materials and technical solutions have helped lay some of the central foundations of the remarkable infrastructure development witnessed in Africa over the last 85 years. With a presence spanning the entire continent, AfriSam is leveraging experience and innovation to remain the best in a tough, ever-changing industry. www.enterprise-africa.net / 3
INDUSTRY FOCUS: CONSTRUCTION
// WE HAVE SET THE STANDARD IN TERMS OF SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS PRACTICES AND ARE CONSIDERED THE ‘GREEN’ LEADER IN OUR INDUSTRY //
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Since its founding in 1934, AfriSam has spent 85 years doggedly establishing itself as a formidable company which is totally committed to facilitating growth on the African continent. The result of these unwavering efforts is that AfriSam is consistently, and famously, the leading supplier of superior quality construction materials and technical solutions throughout the vast African continent. AfriSam (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd began life in 1934 as AngloVaal Portland Cement Company Ltd, changing to firstly Alpha (Pty) Ltd in 1996, and later to Holcim (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd in 2004. The historic sale of the former Holcim (Pty) Ltd to a black-led consortium in 2007 resulted in the launch of the AfriSam brand as we know it today. The title reflects both AfriSam’s pride in its roots and its dominance across the territory: “Afri” refers to its strong African heritage while “Sam” stems from the word samente or disamente, - ‘cement’ in six of South Africa’s official languages. “A strong and trusted history has led AfriSam to be known as a wellrespected and admired African brand,” the company summarises. “We pioneer advanced retail support tools and are progressive in the field of composite cements with C-Tech. “As the largest producer of aggregate materials and the largest supplier of construction materials by volume in south Africa, we are a reliable supplier for your building needs, big or small.” NEGOTIATING TOUGH TIMES AfriSam’s size and reputation is paramount to protecting it against the challenges that currently abound in the industry; CEO Rob Wessels spoke in January of what he predicted would be, “a tough 2019”, especially amid ongoing political and policy uncertainty. If these dual constraints are not
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AFRISAM
alleviated, according to AfriSam sales and marketing executive Richard Tomes, in discussion with Engineering News Online, the construction sector will be adversely affected. This is especially true given that the sector relies heavily on policy and political certainty, which could impact on infrastructure investment in the long term. However, looking ahead with a more positive bent, the resolution of certain issues or concerns could see the market turn yet again, and spark a growing confidence in the private sector with regard to investments in the industry. To this end, the National Treasury’s reprioritising of resources towards President Cyril Ramaphosa’s infrastructure fund, translating to a R100-billion over the next decade, brings welcome positivity, while
Tomes told Engineering News Online that AfriSam had started seeing the benefits of its own cost-cutting initiatives implemented over the last three years. Of these, he highlighted AfriSam’s business restructuring, the removal of inefficient capacity, as well as the removal of some fixed costs as some of the most impactful. Industry Insight senior economist David Metelerkamp agreed, too, that despite a stagnant South African economy, the government’s planned infrastructure spend for 2019 was, “a sign of stabilisation.” IMPORT PROTECTION “We’re able to be a lot more competitive in the market,” Tomes continued to Engineering News Online, “but overall, we still have a situation where there is way too much
capacity and oversupply of cement.” AfriSam is among the founding members of The Concrete Institute (TCI), a non-profit organisation that provides a comprehensive range of technical services in concrete to the construction industry. In a bid to curb what Tomes has identified as one of the main threats to industry stability, TCI announced in March that it would be lodging an appeal to the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) of South Africa. The intended outcome of this move is to impose import tariffs, or even potentially limitedtime bans, on cement sourced from abroad, in order to protect producers from the mass importation of cheaper product from countries such as China and Vietnam, which trend has exploded in recent years.
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INDUSTRY FOCUS: CONSTRUCTION
“The increase in imports of cement is affecting demand for locally produced cement to such an extent that SA manufacturers are considering mothballing plants, retrenching staff and putting expansion plans on hold,” explains Bryan Perrie, MD of TCI. “The effect of the cheap imports on SA cement producers is exacerbated by a slump of unprecedented proportions in the local construction sector with former giants in the industry already having shut or struggling for survival. “Imports from China have been rising steadily in 2016 and 2017 and
// A STRONG AND TRUSTED HISTORY HAS LED AFRISAM TO BE KNOWN AS A WELL-RESPECTED AND ADMIRED AFRICAN BRAND //
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last year Vietnam joined the fray,” Perrie adds, “with more than a million tons of cement being imported into South Africa. These huge volumes are not required as the local cement industry already has annual spare capacity of around five million tons.” The South African cement industry has prior experience of combatting such perceived menaces, having already successfully lobbied for government protection against the dumping of Pakistani cement. In the wake of its efforts, the volume of the imports dropped from over 1,400,000 tons in 2014 to about 400,000 tons in 2016. “The construction industry is now in a far greater slump than during that period so need protection from imported cement even more,” Perrie underlines. CARBON TAX TRANSPARENCY “AfriSam is passionate in the collective cause to conserve our planet,” begins the company when outlining another of its key commitments. “As such we use natural resources in a deliberated
way and actively pursue activities that support sustainable development. “We direct significant effort towards environmental stewardship, ensuring life for future generations.” AfriSam now has the ideal forum to showcase this promise with the advent of South Africa’s carbon tax, in force from the beginning of June this year. In light of its introduction, AfriSam is providing customers with transparent pricing and the ability to make greener choices, and according to Richard Tomes, the new tax is aimed at encouraging responsible behaviour on the part of consumers. “We are taking a transparent and responsible approach to the new tax,” Tomes says. “By showing the amount of carbon tax payable on each specific bag of cement, our customers will still see the base price that we are charging. This avoids any confusion about how much of the final price is going toward the tax. “We believe that a tax should not just be a punitive tool, but it should also affect behaviour in society,” he says. “Just as cement producers are
AFRISAM
// WE DIRECT SIGNIFICANT EFFORT TOWARDS ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP, ENSURING LIFE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS // working hard to reduce carbon emissions, so the end-user can also play their part by choosing an environmentally-friendly brand.” Rather than apply a blanket price
increase, AfriSam is allocating the amount of carbon tax - a levy that varies according to the amount of carbon emitted in the manufacture of a product - due on each bag of cement. The different cement brands in AfriSam’s range contain varying amounts of clinker, which is of course the most energy-consuming element of cement, meaning that the carbon footprints of the brands differ from each other. “Conserving the earth for future generations has always been part of AfriSam’s DNA and is underpinned by our core company value of ‘planet’,” AfriSam concludes. “Actions always speak louder than words and, over the years,
AfriSam has demonstrated its commitment to sustainability through significant investment in research and development of processes and technology to ensure that we are able to produce environmentally responsible products. “We have set the standard in terms of sustainable business practices and are considered the ‘green’ leader in our industry. So far, we have made significant achievements in our drive towards sustainability.”
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