Cement imports are a concrete threat to embattled SA industry
Concrete Institute has asked for higher tariffs on products from China and Vietnam because cost to customer is not the only measure that counts
There is a gruesome scene in the film about the assassination of fashion icon Gianni Versace. The villain lifts a sack of cement over the prostrate body of his victim and says words to the effect of, “I may not hurt you, but this concrete will”, before dropping it, with the desired effect. In the back of my head I can hear people involved in the cement industry sighing: “Cement, not concrete!”
Even top scriptwriters get it wrong, using cement and concrete as synonyms. Cement is easily confused with what we see around us in any city or freeway flyover. But that’s concrete. Cement is the magical substance that when mixed with the other components — crushed stone, sand and secondary materials — and water, sets and becomes that durable and versatile substance we see everywhere: concrete...
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