The International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) of South Africa has imposed anti-dumping duty on cement imports from Pakistan ranging 14.2% to 77.15%.
Industry sources said cement makers in South Africa filed an allegation of dumping against cement imports from Pakistan. On Aug 22, 2015, the ITAC initiated an investigation into the alleged dumping in which dumping margins for Pakistan were determined at 48 percent.
South Africa is the biggest market in terms of sea route where approximately 1.1-1.3 million tonnes of cement (20 percent of total cement exports and 3 percent of total volumetric sales).
Now, the ITAC has imposed different levels of dumping duty for different players – LUCK with 14.29 percent, ACPL with 63.5 percent, DGKC with 68.87 percent and BWLC with 77.15 percent while all other players will be subjected to a duty of 62.29 percent.
The duty has been imposed provisionally for a period of six months. However, Pakistani cement exporters are most likely to appeal against the decision, the sources said.
Retail price of cement manufactured by South African players stand at $130 per tonne while prices in other African nations is $5-10 per tonne lesser. On the other hand, Pakistan cement players export cement at around $120 per tonne to South Africa.
Imposition of dumping duty would result in some decline in exports from Pakistani players (except LUCK). However, robust demand from other African nations will provide some respite at slightly lower rates i.e. $5-10 per tonne.
According to the latest export figures, the cement industry dispatched 3.21 million tones of cement in last 10 months up by 2.6 percent year on year.
