Displaying items by tag: Price

Paraguay: Paraguay’s main cement producer, state-owned Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC), has ‘significantly’ slowed production at its 1.0Mt/yr integrated Puerto Vallemi plant to a rate of 12,000 bags/day, creating a supply gap that imports and Intercement’s 0.4Mt/yr integrated Asunción plant have been unable to fill. Esmerk Latin American News has reported that the shortage has precipitated a 33% price rise in the cost of a bag of cement in the country to US$10.20 from US$7.00 when the shortage began in October 2019.

Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) has signed an agreement with the Ministerio de Urbanismo, Vivienda y Hábitat (MUVH), the government body responsible for commissioning residential home construction, for preferential cement prices for companies to which the latter awards building contracts. INC president Ernesto Benítez Petters said “Cooperation with the MUVH will strengthen the consumption of cement produced in Paraguay by ensuring it a price and the provision of demand from this type of project.”

Zambia: Jimmy Khan, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Lafarge Zambia, has complained about production overcapacity and competition to the president of Zambia. He said that local cement consumption is 2.2Mt/yr compared to production of 5Mt/yr, according to the Lusaka Times newspaper. He made the visit to the president of the country to inform him of a 25% rise in the price of cement. Khan blamed the price hike on business losses.

However, Khan praised the government for its infrastructure development and said that the subsidiary of LafargeHolcim has moved much of its despatches from road to railway. At present the cement producer has a 33% market share. It also intends to continue using the Mpulungu Port in Northern Province to export cement to the east African market.

Egypt: The government has reduced the price of natural gas for cement producers to US$5 per one million British thermal units (BTU). Previously the price was US$8MBtu, according to Mubasher. The government has reduced the price at a similar rate for other industrial users including iron, steel, aluminium, cooper, ceramic, and porcelain plants. It will now review the price of gas every six months.

Nigeria: Oyebamiji Dauda, the chairman of the Lagos State Bricklayers’ Association, has urged the government to cut the price of cement. He wants it to make cement manufacturing more competitive by allowing more producers to operate in the market, according to the News Agency of Nigeria. He added that the ‘high’ cost of cement was negatively affecting building construction. Dauda’s ideas to ease the price of cement include government subsidy, tax breaks for local producers of building materials and further penalties for imported products.

Malaysia: Cement producers have agreed not to raise their prices after a meeting with the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry, despite mounting raw material costs and negative currency exchange issues. Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that the producers were also asked to ‘discuss’ any future prices rises with the ministry first, according to the Malaysian National News Agency (BERNAMA). He added that cement is a controlled item and action under the Control Of Supplies Act could be taken against producers found to increase the price without the government’s approval. The government is also working on a target-based petrol subsidy, although further work is required on this.

Earlier in June 2019 the Cement and Concrete Association of Malaysia has defended a reported 40% rise in the price of cement due to unsustainable mounting input costs. It said that over the last few years the cement industry had suffered from increased costs for electricity, packing materials, imported fuels, raw materials and equipment.

Malaysia: The Cement and Concrete Association of Malaysia has defended a reported 40% rise in the price of cement due to unsustainable mounting input costs. It said that over the last few years the cement industry had suffered from an increase in cost of electricity, packing materials, imported fuels, raw materials and equipment, according to the Star newspaper. It added that jobs in the sector would be at risk if it did not pass on its costs adequately.

Business representatives have complained about the sudden hike in cement prices. Penang Master Builders and Building Materials Dealers Association adviser Datuk Lim Kai Seng described the sudden increase as ‘unfair.’ Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng also described the situation as unprecedented. He said he would refer the matter to the Domestic Trade, Consumerism and Cooperatives Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nation Ismail.

India: Transport and Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) minister Nitin Gadkari says that cement producers have raised their prices without justification. He alleged that input prices for the industry had not increased and speculated that the companies acted ‘like a cartel’, according to the Times of India newspaper. He added that the higher cost of cement was negatively affecting road and affordable housing construction.

Gadkari said he has asked his officials to intervene in an on-going case in the Supreme Court and also explore the option of approaching the Competition Commission of India. The National Highway Builders Federation has also sought government intervention over the issue.

India: The Builders Association of India (BAI) has called for the creation of a regulatory body to control the price of cement. Sachin Chandra, the president of BAI, called on the newly elected Indian government to set up the organisation, according to the Hindu newspaper. He alleged that the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP), the Competition Commission of India and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal had ‘repeatedly’ found evidence of anti-competitive behaviour in the cement industry.

Philippines: The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) expects San Miguel Corporation’s acquisition of a majority stake in Holcim Philippines to reduce the price of locally produced cement. Trade Secretary Ramon M Lopez said that he expected operational synergies and economies of scale to ‘hopefully’ bring down prices, according to the BusinessWorld newspaper. He also noted that import duties on imports of cement could also provide a ‘healthy competitive environment.’

San Miguel Corporation agreed to purchase LafargeHolcim’s 85.7% share in Holcim Philippines in early May 2019. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.