CEMENTIA, a subsidiary of international building materials suppler Lafarge, has announced that it will start importing cement into South Australia.
Lafarge sees that currently supply and demand are balanced in Australia, but with a 4 per cent growth predicted, this will place pressure on existing supply sources. In the immediate future it will make more sense to supplement existing sources with imported cement sources.
Of recent times sources have been secured in Southeast Asia. Lafarge looked at the markets in Hong Kong and Singapore, but was attracted by the growth and price levels in the Australian market.
Adelaide was chosen as the Australian launching point because of a business opportunity that existed there, and terminal facilities and a bulk warehouse have been organised at Port Adelaide. Lafarge expects to supply 100,000 to 120,000t (around 20 per cent of the SA market) in its first year, commencing in August. The company believes that it offers the market a competitive price, quality equal to or better than existing supplies, and reliability (its warehouse will hold 2-3 cargo loads of product).
