BY IRMA ISIP
[ Malaya.com.ph ] December 28, 2009
Cement factories are being urged to offer special prices for cement following tightness in supply in certain parts of Luzon.
Trade Undersecretary Zenaida C. Maglaya said cement companies should follow the lead of Cemex which is selling at P195 per 50-kilogram bag pick-up in its warehouse in Pasig when some retail outlets are selling at more than P205 per bag.
"We are asking for more of this," Maglaya said of the special price being offered by Cemex. Like Cemex, Holcim-owned cement plants have not increased their prices.
Only Lafarge raised its prices by P3, from P203 per bag to P206.
Tight supply has been noted in the national capital region including the provinces of Cavite, Bulacan and Rizal due to the shutdown of three plants -- a Cemex plant in Antipolo and Holcim and La Farge plants in Norzagaray.
Deliveries to NCR was also affected by the collapse of the "Bridge of Promise" in Batangas caused by typhoon Santi, reducing the delivery of Republic Cement plant from 60,000 bags to 20,000 bags per day. Republic is owned by Lafarge.
Maglaya said there was a sudden surge in demand as owners of homes damaged by the recent typhoons begin repairing homes. This coincided with the maintenance shutdowns as well as the rush bidding for government projects. Contractors are not complaining as they are assured of supply to meet their obligations. Construction ban starts in February or three months before the elections.
Maglaya said the trade department does not see any reason why there should be increase in the price of cement which is P205 per bag.
"We expect them to revert back to P205 per bag once the maintenance works are completed and production is back to normal because there is no reason to raise prices," Maglaya said.
According to Maglaya, supply was to normalize last Wednesday, Dec. 23 following the completion of the maintenance work but tight monitoring would still continue.
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