The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has informed the government that cement manufacturers had neither made any increase in cement prices nor had any plans to increase them in the future. This was stated by the APCMA chairman, Tariq Saeed Saigol, in a meeting with Minister for Industries and Production, Liaquat Ali Jatoi, to review cement prices and the cement industry situation. He said the recent increase in prices was made by the market forces because of a sudden increase in the demand for cement with the beginning of summer season and commissioning of various large construction projects. He also said that necessary steps to increase cement production had been taken and required quantity of cement would be made available in the market.
It was informed that currently the manufacturers were producing more than 17Mt cement, which would increase to 19Mt by next year. The national average price of cement has increased from Rs222 per bag in November last to Rs230 per bag on March 10. The minister said the Prime Minister and the Cabinet had taken notice of the increase in the cement prices and desired all out efforts to check the trend.
