PPC's mill to boost capacity by 30pc

PRETORIA: Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) expects its new $102 million mill in Pretoria to increase capacity by 30 percent, a senior executive said on Thursday, even as the firm battles flagging sales due to an industry-wide slump.

PPC, South Africa's biggest cement maker, is under pressure in its home market, where the construction industry is struggling to bounce back after a 2009 recession.

PPC, which has the capacity to produce 8 million tons of cement, expects the 699 million rand ($102 million) mill at its Hercules plant in Pretoria to boost capacity by 30 percent, Salim Kader, the managing director of the company's cement operations, told Reuters.

The cement mill at its Hercules plant was commissioned last year.

PPC, which said in May it was eyeing expansion elsewhere in Africa to compensate for weak sales at home, said it would upgrade other plants within 3 to 5 years.

The company also said it faces tough competition from imports, which have taken up about 5 percent of the market in South Africa.

Shares in PPC were up 0.22 percent ay 27.96 rand by 1152GMT, lagging behind a flat JSE All-share index.

Copyright Reuters, 2011