PPC rallies after SA slaps duties on Pakistani cement

Johannesburg - Shares of cement maker PPC [JSE:PPC] jumped more than 8% on Friday after South African authorities imposed duties of between 14.3 and 77.2% on cement originating from Pakistan to curb dumping.

The levies follow an investigation by South Africa's International Trade Administration Commission and will ran until November 13, after which the body will submit recommendations to impose permanent duties, PPC said in a statement.

The imported product had hurt the region's cement industry and led to job losses, under utilisation of production capacity in South Africa and reduced returns, the cement-maker said.

One million tonnes of Pakistani cement was imported into the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) in 2014, PPC said.

"Cement is being dumped in SACU at between 14.29 and 77.15% less than the ex-factory selling price in Pakistan. Pakistan cement manufactures also enjoy structured tax benefits in their country," PPC said.

PPC shares were up 8.2% at R17.60 at 09:34GMT, the biggest intra-day gain in more than six years.