Republic Cement Corp., the Philippines largest cement firm, Wednesday said they are cooperating with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) against unscrupulous traders that have been overpricing and hoarding cement stressing that cement supply has already normalised and that retail prices for its cement should be within PHP210 to PHP215 per 40-kilogram bag only in the National Capital Region.

Rene Sunico, president of Republic Cement Corp., has clarified that supply from deliveries from its Bulacan plant has normalised to an average of 20 to 25 trucks a day from the 150 trucks lining up for deliveries before December 25 when other plants in the Bulacan area by other cement manufacturers cannot produce as they were having maintenance issues.

There is no problem also with deliveries from its Batangas plant because the Mahanadyong Bridge in Taisan, which was reduced to 10t capacity, is now operating at 25t-capacity after its rehabilitation with the help of the private sector and is being upgraded to a 50t bridge capacity.

Companies have been using the Mahanadyong bridge instead of the Bridge of Promise, which repair would be taking a longer time.

Sunico said that cement supply in the NCR was supposed to be back to normal after Christmas.