profile
drone starting in July . Now we can ’ t know whether this is the start of a new trend or will prove to be a once-off occurrence , but the point is that the technology is out there and we ’ re seeing the fourth industrial revolution playing out around us . We must keep our eyes open for disruptive technologies that could change the world as we know it completely in specific industries .
RG : In your opinion , what are the trends to keep an eye on in the cement industry ? AvH : Well the cement and quarrying industries are very closely related , and we all know that some consolidation is necessary . I think we ’ re going to see some interesting happenings in the cement industry over the short term , with the Afrisam – PPC merger and possibly some other interesting moves that will help cement companies to strengthen their balance sheets . Some of these companies were , in my opinion , reckless a few years ago in terms of how they went about introducing debt on their balance sheets , and now that has come home to roost , so it ’ s going to be very interesting to see how this plays out and how these companies come up with strategies to survive a very over-geared balance sheet .
Interestingly enough , this is happening against the backdrop of an emerging economic recovery , we saw the resources industry coming back , we see government continuing to grow its infrastructure spend , albeit perhaps not at the rate we would like to see . When it comes to demand for cement , at current forecasts we ’ ll be in an overcapacity situation until probably about 2020 , after which we will start seeing supply and demand dynamics changing again so supply is slightly less than demand . It ’ s going to be very interesting to see how that plays out and whether cement companies use
Inhabitat
Beijing-based HuaShang Tengda printed a durable two storey villa in 45 days .
technology to improve their productivity . I know some companies are investing in technology to increase their efficiency , and in so doing they are also creating more capacity . So it ’ s going to be very interesting to see how the dynamics change , but I think the buyers ’ market for cement is going to come to an end in two to three years from now .
RG : What advice would you give someone looking to emulate Afrimat ’ s success ? AvH : I think the most important thing is that you can never afford to become complacent . Afrimat is a South African company and we want to make a contribution to the country . We are , hopefully , strategically in tune with what is going on around us and we try to make the necessary adjustments in time , and so far this has worked well for us . At the same time , we are aware that things can change very quickly and we can never be complacent . I always warn my guys that we are probably at best only 18 months away from bankruptcy at any given time – one the wrong decision can wipe us out in 18 months or less . So you ’ ve got to be careful , you can never be arrogant about your success . We are extremely grateful for what we have ; we ’ ve been very blessed over the past decade . And we ’ re looking forward to the next 10 years . n
36 _ QUARRY SA | MAY 2017