Meanwhile, in South Africa, the South African National Roads Agency’s (Sanral’s) multibillion-rand road-upgrade and road-building plans were hindered last year because of shortages of bitumen, which stemmed from unplanned shutdowns at refineries. The shortage is "encouraging cement firms to dream of a shift to concrete roads," the article states. "For years, cement companies have tried to get road authorities to choose cement which would then be made into concrete. Yet bitumen has been found to be cheaper and quicker to work with. This is even if concrete roads last longer."