Sephaku Cement began commercial production at its Delmas grinding plant on 6 January 2014 following a successful commissioning phase, Sephaku Holdings has announced.
The Delmas plant, situated in east of Gauteng, is expected to ramp up capacity to 1.4Mta by mid-2014.
CEO, Dr Lelau Mohuba, said: "This has been a nine-year journey and we are pleased to finally have our cement brand in the market. We are proud of SepCem's highly experienced operational team for attaining this key milestone in being the latest entrant into the South African cement industry since 1934.”
The company’s cement products have been tested and approved by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications, enabling Delmas to begin producing for the market. To-date it has secured significant sales volumes and its cement brand has been available at retail outlets in Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga since 13 January 2014.
Sephaku Cement is also nearing completion of the integrated Aganang plant in Lichtenburg, North West province of South Africa. The commissioning phase has started and production is on target for the second quarter of this year, Dr Mohuba added.
Sephaku Holdings, owns 36 per cent of Sephaku Cement and the remaining 64 per cent is owned by Dangote Cement PLC, Africa's largest cement producer.