SA’s cement sector is far less brittle than it was a year ago. The share price of market leader PPC has rebounded 230%, bearing testimony to the better industry fundamentals.

While PPC’s operational improvements and debt-culling efforts have occupied centre stage on the JSE, few investors might have realised that smaller cement player Sephaku has managed an even more startling comeback. Over a year, Sephaku’s share has surged almost 600% from an early July low of 25c to current levels of 174c...