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PPC - PPC opts for lower impact Western Cape expansion Pretoria Portland Cement Company Limited (Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa) (Company registration number: 1892/000667/06) JSE Code: PPC ISIN: ZAE000125886 ("PPC" or "the company") PPC OPTS FOR LOWER IMPACT WESTERN CAPE EXPANSION Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) has announced a review of its Western Cape capacity expansion programme and the resultant withdrawal of its environmental application for the original programme. The revised programme will see PPC upgrading and increasing capacity at its existing Riebeeck operation and its De Hoek operation near Piketberg instead of building a single new factory. The upgrade of existing plant will increase capacity in the Western Cape by approximately 50% up to 2016. The upgrade plan will allow PPC to increase capacity with lower impact on the surrounding communities and the environment and at a lower capital outlay. The new plan requires phased expenditure of R3 billion over 6 years as opposed to the original plans` R4.5 billion over 4 years. "The original design was done during a period of peak demand and cement shortages. The economic landscape and capacity requirements have changed significantly since then. Pending legislative changes will make it more onerous to withdraw environmental applications in future, hence our withdrawal of the original application now. With the revised plan we will still achieve our original objectives with regard to environmental standards, energy efficiency and capacity expansion in the Western Cape region but in phases and over a longer time" said PPC CEO, Paul Stuiver. "Our dedication to our surrounding communities remains unchanged and we will continue to champion local employment and skills development as part of our ongoing commitment and as part of the new plan." The new expansion programme would not result in any job losses at the PPC operations. Additionally, PPC`s commitment to Social and Labour projects the Western Cape remains unchanged. Recently the company completed construction of a creche and of classrooms at the Meiring and Riebeeck West primary schools in Riebeeck West and a number of classrooms at the Steytlerville Primary school in De Hoek. During August the company will be unveiling the completion of a Water Works at the Wittewater community near Piketberg. Commenting on the impact that the new programme will have, Stuiver said: "The new phased approach will still incorporate best available technology to meet World-class Environmental Standards with specific focus on energy efficiency. The programme will also result in more traffic being routed onto the national road and therefore have less impact on the smaller surrounding towns. There will also be less visual impact." PPC will commence with a new environmental authorization process and will continue to engage with all the affected communities in the Riebeeck West and Piketberg regions regarding the new programme. ENDS Notes to editors: PPC has 8 million tons of cement manufacturing capacity and 12 major operating sites across South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Two of the operations, Riebeeck and De Hoek, near Piketberg, are situated in the Western Cape Province. During 2006, when demand was growing rapidly in the province, PPC commissioned a study for the expansion of its cement manufacturing capacity in the Western Cape. As a result of this process an environmental impact assessment process commenced in 2006. The original project, named Se Kika, involved the construction of a new, 1.4 million ton per annum cement plant on a new site located a short distance from the existing 50 year old operation at Riebeeck West. Part of this new capacity was planned as a replacement for the existing factory. Cement demand in the province peaked during 2007/2008 and exceeded PPC`s manufacturing capacity. Since then there has been a 40% decrease in provincial demand causing PPC to reconsider its Se Kika expansion programme. As there are pending changes to environmental legislation that will make it more onerous to withdraw environmental authorisations in future, and it is clear that the programme will need to change substantially, a decision was made withdraw the original environmental application. A revised expansion plan is now being proposed which involves expansion of capacity at the existing Riebeeck plant near Riebeeck West and the expansion of capacity at one of the production lines at PPC`s De Hoek plant near Piketberg. The combined capacity of the two sites, after expansion, will be the same as that of the original Se Kika project. For further information contact: College Hill +27 11 447 3030 Jacques de Bie +27 82 691 5384 PPC +27 11 386 9000 Kevin Odendaal +27 11 386 9024 kodendaal@ppc.co.za 3 August 2010 Sponsor Merrill Lynch South Africa (Proprietary) Limited Date: 03/08/2010 09:00:01 Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited (`JSE`). The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers, employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature, howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on, information disseminated through SENS.
