Page 51 - Leshobo Technical Report_October2016

Technical Report for the

LESHOBO LIMESTONE

Taung, North-West Province

10. MARKET ANALYSIS
10.1 Demand

The global market for limestone is projected to exceed 5.5 billion tons by 2022 and this
will be driven by rising demand for cement, agriculture and steel production (SAMI,
2009/2010 and Global Industry Analysts, 2016). Most of billion tonnes of limestone
consumed annually is used in the manufacture of cement or as flux input in the
metallurgical industries (SAMI, 2009/2010). Demand for cement is also driven driven by
urbanisation and infrastructure development (SAMI, 2009/2010). The local industry is
comprised of four main cement producers: PPC (Pretoria Portland Cement) which is the
largest cement producer with a 40% market share which is then followed by, Afrisam
(29.5%), Lafarge (17.5%) and NPC-Cimpor (7%) (SAMI, 2009/2010).

Sephaku Cement is the first new competitor in the inland market since 1934 and started
production by early 2014 (Heyns, 2013). Sephaku is a joint venture between Sephaku
investment group and a Nigerian based company, Dangote cement (SAMI, 2009/2010).
This will add a significant share of low-cost capacity to the inland market and is likely
to result in increased competition (Heyns, 2013). Sephaku is already exerting pressure
on existing companies to optimise their capacity to compete with its new equipment
(Heyns, 2013). Cement market is driven by economic and population growth, and
infrastructure investment is a key determinant of demand growth so with the growing
population, demand for cement is expected to grow tremendously (Heyns, 2013).

Cement is the key ingredient in concrete, an essential component in the construction of
most buildings and structures (Heyns, 2013). Cement market is driven by economic and
population growth, and infrastructure investment is a key determinant of demand
growth so with the growing population, demand for cement is expected to grow
tremendously (Heyns, 2013).

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