Lafarge Cement CEO, Thierry Legrand noted that while sales had decreased by 2.8% since the beginning of the year, "we have recently started to see an increase on the daily sales. In April it went up by 6.7% and rose 2% in May. If this trend continues we can expect 2011 volumes to be similar to 2010."

Lafarge Cement operates a 2.4 million ton per annum cement clinker facility at Lichtenburg in the North West Province.

The group invested R1.2 billion to increase its cement capacity, particularly at its Randfontein site, with its main operations located in Lichtenburg.

The factory in Randfontein came on stream at the end of 2009. It has the capability of producing one million tonnes per annum, or 4,800 tonnes per day at full capacity.

"We are currently using around two-thirds of our capacity,"

"An increase in residential building plans is certainly encouraging to the construction sector of the South African market," he added.

To offset the market slowdown, the CEO said that Lafarge worked at effectively reducing costs while intensifying its presence in the market.

"More than ever we endeavour to support our customers' needs while promoting the Lafarge brand. An example of this is our Roadcem, a product extremely well adapted to address road stabilisation needs," he said.

"There are some positive signs on daily cement sales. Residential building plans are going up. We think the market could end this year at the same level as 2010, the coming months will confirm. We hope for a more serious recovery in 2012 and more growth in infrastructure," he concluded.

Cement sales in South Africa moved 2.8% lower year on year (y/y) in May to 912,585 tons, from 939,318 in May 2010, data from the Cement and Concrete Institute showed.

Sales were 816,338 tons in April. Domestic sales on a year-to-date basis declined 2.1% to 4.2 million tons, from 4.291 million tons for the same period in 2010. The moving annual total in SA was down 4.8% y/y in May to 10.779 million tons from 11.325 million tons in May 2010.   

The group noted that May had one less sales day than in 2010.