56 / 60
October/November 2016
S
APPMA Chief Executive Officer,
Jan Venter, “The plastic pipe
industry is arguably one of the
most important industries in South
Africa’s infrastructure as water dis-
tribution, waste disposal, irrigation,
telecommunications and amyriad of
other services rely on pipe infrastruc-
tures to work effectively.
SAPPMA has proven that we are
heavily invested in the well-being of
the local plastics pipe industry – es-
pecially where standards and tech-
nical specifications are concerned.
We have already exposed more than
1 500 delegates to close to 200 techni-
cal papers since the first conference.
This year 17 experts shared their ex-
pertisewith delegates fromAustralia,
Spain, Germany and theMiddle East,”
said Venter.
Keynote speakers included Corné
Krige, former Springbok rugby cap-
tain who led the team to the World
Cup in 2003 – who shared some life
lessons on effective leadership in
sport and business, this was followed
by Ralph Triebel of LHA Management
Consultants, who gave an overviewof
the trends in the local pipe market.
Many of the papers presented
reflected the problems facing the
industry such as the accreditation of
national standards. Venter explains,
“Quality in general and long-term
product quality, in particular, is one
of our cornerstones. Considering that
approximately 40 000 km of plastic
pipe is manufactured annually in
South Africa, we are doing everything
to prevent a general deterioration of
plastic piping systems in our country.
SAPPMA has been at the forefront of
this situation and is probably furthers
down the road to facilitate alternative
mechanisms.”
Venter concludes, “There aremany
exciting, new markets and opportu-
nities emerging for the plastic pipe
industry. We have an ever-increasing
role to play. We need to make sure
that we are part of the solution – not
part of the problem.”
■
The SouthernAfricanPlastic PipeManufacturers Association (SAPPMA)
recently hosted the PIPES X Conference at the Byte Conference Centre
in Midrand.
T
he Competition Commission
has prohibited an intermediate
merger between Much Asphalt
acquiring five fixed asphalt plants
– Roadspan Plants from Roadspan
Surfaces. Following themerger, Much
Asphalt will wholly own the Roadspan
Plants. The Commission found that
the proposed merger is likely to sub-
stantially prevent or lessen competi-
tion in the markets for the supply of
asphalt products.
Much Asphalt manufactures and
supplies hot and cold mix asphalt
products to the commercial sector.
It also supplies asphalt products for
use or application on urban streets,
freeways, runways, race tracks, pub-
lic sidewalks, bus lanes and certain
harbour specific applications. The
company is currently only active in
themanufacture of asphalt and does
not offer services. The five fixed Road-
span Plants located in Kimberley,
Stilfontein, Welkom, Nelspruit and
Daben produce hot and limited cold
mix asphalt.
The Commission found that the
merged entity will hold a dominant
position in each of the affected
markets as a result of the proposed
merger, and will not face strong
competition in these markets. The
Commission also found that it is
not easy for new firms to enter and
compete effectively in the affected
markets because of capital, regula-
tory and economies of scale require-
ments. Furthermore, customers of
the merging parties do not have the
ability to negotiate for lowers prices
as there are few alternative suppliers
of asphalt products.
The merging parties did not pro-
pose any remedies to address the
Commission’s concerns nor have
they advanced any cogent efficien-
cies, procompetitive gains or public
interest benefits that could outweigh
the competition concerns. The Com-
mission has prohibited the proposed
merger.
“Asphalt is one of the critical
products in infrastructure develop-
ment projects, particularly road
construction. The merger would
have created a market structure in
the supply of asphalt that is highly
concentrated, leaving the merged
entity the dominant supplier in key
geographic locations in South Africa.
Ultimately, customers of asphalt in
road construction would have had to
bear the high prices had the merger
been approved,” says Acting Deputy
Commissioner, Hardin Ratshisusu.
■
Commission prohibits asphalt merger
Industry Buzz
PipesX Conference